I'll start by saying that Bernie has written two books and countless speeches on the subject, so I defer to his writing as the authority. That said, I'll give it my best shot. #Bernie2020
The whole point of a political, peaceful revolution is to prevent an actual revolution from happening. Right now, many signs are pointing to us heading in the direction of a revolution, and that's scary. Key structural changes are necessary to defuse it.
A political revolution is about millions of people waking up and engaging in the political process. If we want to defeat Trump, and handily, we need record-breaking voter turnout (even while the vote is being suppressed).
The people need to send a very clear message that we won't stand by and watch our country be torn apart and gutted. We will take back power and hold on to it.
The structural changes start with fixing the massive and unprecedented wealth inequality in this country, in which 3 people own more wealth then the bottom half. That is not the condition for a sustainable and thriving society.
A key part of accomplishing that is to stop big money from controlling politics, which means ending Citizens United and switching to publicly funded elections. We wonder how we're going to pay for things, yet throw big 💰 at campaigns, which effectively burn it on media buys.
Another is legalizing marijuana nationally and expunging the records of those who have been targeted by unjust laws. We need to stop destroying lives, esp. in a way that disproportionately affects minorities, crowds prisons, and fuels the private prison industry.
Bernie is going to end endless war and the stranglehold of the military industrial complex. That's a big structural change because we live in the structure of interventionist wars. Our defense budget shows that we prioritize violent solutions over peace, diplomacy, and democracy.
Given war is about oil, another is to transform our energy system by keeping fossil fuels in the ground and switching entirely to green energy post haste. Fossil fuels not only destroy the environment we depend on, but the money controls our political system & drives us to war.
Another is to join the rest of the industrialized world by guaranteeing health care to every person in this country so it lives up to its promise of the right to (a healthy and respectable) life.
Yet another is to cancel student debt and make education tuition free. While the latter is a policy change, the first is a structural one to free a generation from a life of debt. (And something we used to have, btw).
Another is ending institutionalized racism and other forms of bigotry. We'll live in a country where black lives matter, women lives matter, LGBTQA lives matter, and we should all have equal standing and opportunity under the law.
At the end of the day, we can agree that all lives do, in fact, matter. The problem is, right now, some lives matter more than most, most notably while and male. Being white and male, I say without hesitation this situation needs to change.
Getting back to the election, we must restore voting rights. Every person in this country of voting age should be allowed to cast one vote per election, period. No other barriers. Doing so should be easy, accessible, and counted. Suppressing the vote should be a severe crime.
But none of this is going to happen short of a political revolution. The people must show their strength by getting involved, showing up, and letting our voices be heard. As Bernie says, "Not Me, Us."
By "actual revolution", I'm referring to a violent one. Think the French Revolution. I'm not saying we don't want revolutionary changes. We absolutely do. My hope is that we can get there though nonviolent action and the ballot box.
In case it's unclear, by "one vote per election", I'm not referring to voter fraud, which is a myth. I'm referring to big money being used to swing elections and the electoral college giving more weight to votes in certain states. Both devalue the vote of the individual.
