Posted on 01/27/2016 10:59:05 AM PST by beaversmom
Jedediah Purdy, a professor at Duke Law School and occasional contributor to the Huffington Post, takes issue with liberal economist Paul Krugman's assessment of the Bernie Sanders campaign's operating theory of change as unrealistic and naive. Krugman writes, "The question Sanders supporters should ask is, When has their theory of change ever worked?"
Purdy says it has: “To answer Krugman’s question: yes, it (Sanders theory of change) has worked. In fact, it may be the only theory of change that has ever made democracy real. It is politics for adults.”
But while he insists that quixotic insurgent campaigns based on ideological purity work, it’s impossible to miss that he doesn't say exactly when. He doesn't cite any campaigns that back up his assertion. The reason why is simple. There are none. As much as Purdy and Sanders supporters wish it were true, this strategy has never worked and likely never will. Since the days of Ancient Greece, ideological purity in a democratic society has been the road to ruin of every political movement and every political party that has tried it.
Purdy has accidentally encapsulated not just the fatal flaw in the Sanders theory of change, but also the primary flaw of his supporters. Sanders doesn't have supporters as much as he has believers. Sanders' supporters cannot call on facts to support their fervent belief that his message of radical change is possible, because the facts do not support this belief. They become belligerent and hostile any time anyone questions this belief.
That Sanders is right — and so his followers are right — is taken as an elemental matter of faith. Sanders represents the light and all that is good; anyone who questions this must be an agent of the dark and all that is bad.
Sound familiar? It should. This is precisely the impetus behind every extremist movement in history. Sanders and his supporters too often exemplify a political manifestation of this black and white ideology. One of the consistent criticisms of Bernie Sanders throughout his career is that he's self-righteous and unwilling to entertain any position or belief that doesn't exactly match his. Back in 1991, when Bernie was still new to Congress, progressive icon Barney Frank said of him, "Bernie alienates his natural allies. His holier-than-thou attitude--saying in a very loud voice he is smarter than everyone else and purer than everyone else--really undercuts his effectiveness."
The problem with Bernie Sanders and his supporters isn't ideological. The difference between Sanders and Clinton is a matter of degree more than any fundamental ideological disagreement. They both advocate moving in the same direction, but by different methods. Bernie Sanders says he will bring about a political revolution to make his dreams of a democratic socialist society come true, which seems an unlikely proposition given that the GOP is sure to control one house of Congress and may well control both. Hillary Clinton advocates a pragmatic approach: protecting the progressive gains won under the Obama administration, taking what new gains may be possible in a divided government and setting the political table to back for more later.
Historically, it is this latter approach that has produced change. In any democratic system of government, progress is incremental. Only one time in our history as a nation have we seen such sweeping ideological change at a fundamental level happen in a brief span of time, and that change came at the price of five years of bloody civil war and some 500,000 deaths.
Human attitudes --and there is no more elemental human attitude than politics -- cannot be defined as simply as darkness or the light. We've tried this again and again, and it never ends well. This Democratic primary contest isn't a battle of good against evil. Hillary Clinton isn't the evil agent of the powers of greed and darkness and Bernie Sanders isn't an avenging angel or a pious saint. This is a political campaign and they are both professional politicians. While both candidates seek to highlight their differences, they have far more in common with each other than either of them does with the extremist and often dangerous positions of the Republican contenders. Politics is the art of the possible, not the perfect. One candidate embodies the possible. One insists on nothing less than the perfect. Paul Krugman is right. The achievable possible is always preferable to the unachievable perfect.
Isn’t Sanders the ultimate, utopia unicorn?
Sound familiar? It should. This is precisely the impetus behind every extremist movement in history.
Funny, this describes Obama and the Dems to a T but it's only pointed out to benefit Hitlery.
He’s all of those “u”s! And Hillary is an “a”, “b”, “c”, “d”, and “e”.
Right.
And Obama sure didn’t mess around with incrementalism nor did he let any Repubs stand in his way. He drove it full speed ahead and right over the cliff.
EVERYONE under 30 should have to watch Citizen X.
it’s about Russia’s worst serial killer and the reasons communism made it impossible to catch him.
you see, there’s no such thing as a deviant in communism, you cant contact the FBI obviously, etc.
And in one scene, a box of tissues is shared as if it is gold!!
So if you are a Democrat, your choices Bernie Sanders, who is an ideological purist, rigid and arrogant to the point of ineffectiveness. Or money-grubbing grifter Hillary Clinton, who probably would support the Republican platform if you paid her or Bill enough.
While both candidates seek to highlight their differences, they have far more in common with each other than either of them does with the extremist and often dangerous positions of the Republican contenders.
In which the author nullifies his own premise,
or is it exemplifies?
It’s Salon so it’s hard to tell...
“Citizen X” is based on the book, “Child 44”, which is above my desk, right now.
The book is even more stark and darker than the movie. Much more so...
The minute Hillary looks like she isn’t going to win the Dem Nomination, a second after that is when the “Sword of Damocles” (scandals) gets dropped on her head....
I am convinced that the only thing keeping Hillary safe from prosecution is her running for president..
Methinks part of why Hillary is doing poorly is precisely that she does, in fact, understand socialism has limits: it all has to be paid for, no matter what shell game is used, and that there is a limit to what can be scammed out of people’s pockets. She can’t compete with the raging enthusiasm of a Leftist “true believer” who is in fact an avowed communist, a philosophy that makes no bones about the fact that EVERYTHING YOU OWN BELONGS TO THE STATE and anything beyond party-defined essentials can & will be taken from you to pay for whatever the state provides. She can’t out-promise Bernie because she knows she can’t deliver; he will win the nomination precisely because he absolutely believes he can & will deliver free everything to everyone by soaking the rich.
The liberals in my circle think he poops Skittles.
Ah yes, the “Progressive” way is to take what they can and come back for more later.
We say ‘Enough’ and they call us extremists? This isn’t going to end well.
Irrational principles in matters of morality that help spread evil are:
1) one must be morally agnostic and never pronounce moral judgment.
2) everything is gray and one must never try to distinguish between good and evil and black and white.
Sanders' mistake is that he has an irrational standard of value, and so, he is not able to correctly judge what is good or evil and black and white.
It is very difficult to believe that Bernie is any threat to Herself. Oh that it were so but difficult to believe.
The film “Citizen X” is based on Robert Cullen’s non-fiction book The Killer Department.
Yup. Bernie is Da Bomb with everyone I meet who is under 30. Would not be surprised if he wins. Someone like him will be our POTUS within a decade.
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