14,000 people waited in a line 7 miles long, they say, 7 miles long, to see and hear Bernie Sanders at Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday. We need to acknowledge this Democratic uprising. We need to acknowledge and support these people rather than tell them they are chasing a pipedream. Bernie is our #TahrirSquare, our #TentCity, our #SitIns, our #Strikes.
As people committed to the Democratic Party and perhaps further left, we should be talking to the people in line at Bernie events. You know they are talking excitedly to one another about being part of this historic campaign. To find out what makes Bernie supporters tick, you need do nothing more than listen to what they say. Then ask them to imagine how they will work together to achieve their aspirations for society.
Can
disruptive social movements change the world or are we better served by take-it-slow, wait-a-year-or-more-to-speak-up, incremental change? Mark and Paul Engler make a case for the former, arguing in their new book, This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century, that supposed pragmatism often stands in the way of genuine progress. The grand slogan of Paris, 1968 -- "Be realistic, demand the impossible" -- is sage and sober advice.
Mark Engler and Paul Engler
- See more at: http://portside.org/2016-03-10/transformative-power-democratic-uprisings-praise-impractical-movements#sthash.eHzSrt2M.dpuf
NB: This is an article about the social movements that are propelling Bernie’s candidacy, not a discussion about Bernie v Hillary.
Please discuss!