Rating: 4/5 hokey references to Vermont country life
Author:
Bernie Sanders
Amazon Link: referral program on hold :(
T’is the season for political manifestos, considering that the 2020 democratic primary is ramping up to a fevered pitch. I’m surprised that it took me so long to dive into Bernie’s book, as I’ve been following him since 2016. Although I like Sanders, I always considered him to be a long-shot candidate due to the perception that his policies are too progressive for moderate voters to seriously consider. Given his surprising surge in 2016 and his current status as a Democratic front-runner, I think he has successfully made the journey from the outer political circle to the center of party politics and has changed the conversation around progressive political concepts along the way. He has a good chance of winning the Democratic nomination and sparring with Trump later this year, so I want to be well informed of his political beliefs, his background, and his proposed policies should he become our next president.
Our Revolution adequately performs all the necessary functions of a candidate biography, but lacks the compelling narrative that drives Buttigieg’s and Warren’s more accessible biographies. This isn’t a bad thing, as I come from an academic background and somewhat prefer a dry summary of factual statements, but I feel that the general appeal of this approach is limited for the average American. As much as I like Bernie as a candidate, I can’t give his book a perfect rating for this reason. I would recommend that everyone read about Bernie’s policies, but only those who are motivated to push through the relatively dry content should pick up Our Revolution.
Sander’s personal story covers much of the range of the classic American experience. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he has experienced the urban life shared by so many Americans and understands the concerns and motivations of middle class families creating a life for themselves. He has spent the whole of his political career in Vermont, living a rural life and experiencing a culture entirely different from his upbringing. These contrasting experiences give him understanding and compassion for a wide range of American perspectives.
Sanders effectively describes his motivations and his plans for implementing progressive policies. I feel that the media’s appraisal of the poor feasibility of his platform is misguided after reviewing his clearly-defined defense of his strategy for implementation of such things as Medicare for all, free college tuition, or many of his other policy concepts. We can absolutely make these things work, but it is obvious that the American people are not quite ready to embrace his approach to quality-of-life improvement via expanded social programs. I think Sanders is well within the moderate edge of the socialist platform, but I fear that any association with the ‘socialist’ label will drive American’s away based on their own poor understanding of exactly what the platform stands for. The adoption of some socialized policy concepts does not mean that we must abandon capitalism, but it seems that most people will only accept one or the other and refute the idea that they can co-exist effectively.
Overall Sanders book does exactly what it sets out to do, it provides a summary of his background and provides a good basis for his policy platform. As someone who already embraces the progressive political mindset, nearly all of what he wrote about was very nice to hear and I encourage him to keep pushing a progressive agenda. Even if he isn’t the Democratic candidate, he is still shifting the conversation and creating exposure for progressive concepts. Sanders is a national treasure, his book is excellent, and the only remaining question is whether we will recognize the value of his ideas in time for him to be utilized as a figurehead for a new era of American social development. President Sanders only has a slim and narrowing window of possibility, I hope we don’t miss our chance to take that massive step forward.