Crossposted at Populist Caucus.
For far too long, the political stereotype in America has been that conservatives are interested in “moral values,” while liberals are a bunch of hedonists and heathens. Through skillful framing of issues, conservatives have done much to reinforce this myth in the minds of the public. Meanwhile, in recent years, too many liberal politicians have tended towards a technocratic approach to politics that is barren of the soulful populist refrains of freedom and justice — themes that were not only present but dominant in the triumphant liberalism of FDR and the transformative left-wing movements of the 1960s.
The rise of Bernie Sanders and his progressive populism in the 2016 election provides the left with an opportunity to change the stereotype of the “amoral liberal” and the “family-values conservative”— if a Sanders-inspired politics can win the hearts and minds of enough people to become a lasting force for political change.
That is because Bernie Sanders frames his message in thoroughly, unabashedly moral language. Like the fire-breathing, conscience-driven liberal political leaders of the early to mid 1900s, Sanders has the aura more of a prophet than of a typical elected official. He challenges Americans to examine their hearts, to look deep into the soul of our nation, and ask ourselves: Are we a good people? Is our politics today a politics of goodness, consistent with our highest moral values? Or has it become something else — something that is more like a stain on our nation’s character, and something we must cleanse and heal in order to be made whole?
In a powerful, moving ad made by a supporter of Bernie Sanders, the voice of a modern-day political prophet rings out unto the nation. It rings with a moral clarity that cuts through the uncertainty, malaise, and paralysis of our time:
“How can we talk about morality, about justice, when we turn our backs on the children of our country? We have, in this country, sufficient amounts of money to put more people in jail than any other country on Earth, but apparently we do not have enough money to provide jobs and education to our young people,” Sanders says, as images of barbed wire and jail cells flash across the screen, followed by video of protesters marching with children riding on their shoulders.
“We are the only major country on Earth that does not guarantee healthcare to all people as a right. All of God’s children — the poor, the wretched — the have the right to go to a doctor when they are sick,” Sanders exclaims to wild applause.
Please watch the entire ad, and share it far and wide.
Much of the ad comes from Bernie Sanders’ campaign speech at Liberty University, the ultra-conservative evangelical religious college. I love the fact that he went there and articulated a fundamentally different moral vision than the Ayn Randian social Darwinism that bizarrely passes today for “Christian conservatism” in the American political discourse. Sanders’ moral vision is, in fact, more consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition, and with the tenets of all the great world religions.
America was founded in large part by idealistic people who came to this land to create what they believed would be a more just and virtuous society, a “shining city on a hill.” Although Americans have always struggled to live up to that vision — and often have failed terribly — we have never stopped trying. And in truth, it has been mostly from the anti-establishment left that the impetus for moral advancement has come. As Bernie says:
The history of America, and the fight for human dignity, is a history of struggle. They struggled because they said, “I am a human being. I have rights. You can’t do that to me. I need dignity.” And unions were formed, and people fought, and people died, and people were beaten, and people went to jail.
When millions of people stand up and fight... they win.
This is how all the great social movements in American history have happened. Forward-thinking people, people with open minds and a surging compassion in their hearts, have come together and rallied around a moral message, a message of increasing human dignity — whether the dignity of African Americans, or immigrants, or workers, or women, or gay people, or people living in poverty, and so on and so forth. And they have fought, through peaceful means, for the advancement of their values — the values of a greater human civilization based on the principle of universal human dignity.
And when enough people come together around that message, they win. Because it is truth. It is goodness. And as the great Dr. Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Today, Bernie Sanders is inspiring us to keep making progress. And although victory is not assured in this election, even if we lose, we have already won — as long as we don’t give up — because we have seen that through the power of moral inspiration, persuasion and leadership, great movements for people-powered progressive change can happen, even in a cynical age.