Are the days of a two-party system coming to an end? At this time the GOP is split between the Tea Party and the old GOP people. The Democrats are splitting between the centrists/Blue Dogs and the new young people’s party, the Revolutionaries.
The wages slaves of the world are demanding a fair share in their lives that they are not getting from their government’s representation. Just look at Spain’s election, which shows strong support for two new upstart parties challenging Spain’s traditional two-party system. Then there is Ukraine’s governing coalition that lost its majority in parliament. There are different reasons for each country, but there is one that crosses lines, which trust and dissatisfaction with their elected politicians.
Here in the U.S., we have a broken system in the Democratic party, which can rig elections by using super delegates. Super delegates were established during the 1972 election cycle when George McGovern and Jimmy Carter squared off. Using the 712 super delegates, which essentially nullifies the people’s vote, are made up of 20 Democratic governors, 47 Senators, 193 Congress members, 432 elected members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and 20 “distinguished” party leaders, such as presidents, vice presidents, DNC chairs and congressional leaders.
Even if a candidate gets the majority of the people’s votes, the candidate can still lose by the super delegates. Despite Sanders receiving the majority of votes in New Hampshire, Clinton received as many super delegates as Sanders so they were essentially tied in this corrupted system. How long will the smart and techie savvy young voters going to put up with this rigging of the system before they leave the Democratic party and side with or start their own party? Either way, it will be the end of the Democratic party as we know it today. Of those registered to vote in the U.S., 43 percent identify as Independents, 30 percent as Democrats, and 26 percent as Republican. The Democratic party better wake up.
The GOP is in the same sad shape and for better or worse, the old GOP establishment will not be able to hold back the hoards with their pitchforks. They are already pounding on the gates of the 1 percent oligarchies. If the Democratic establishment shutout Bernie Sanders in an unfair use of super delegates or otherwise there will be a revolution and a new party for this is not a third world country yet.
This is where unions must take sides and they should side with the young workers and the soon-to-be workers. This is where the future of unions lies if they hope to rebuild their numbers and strength. Think about how the centrist Democrats perceive the unions today. They look upon us as irrelevant because we have lost our membership numbers and membership means money. With low numbers, the centrists turned to Wall Street, big banks and the oligarchies for money and support—which are not and have never been friends of labor. Today, during the Nevada caucus, the casinos sent union members with pay to caucus on behalf of Clinton, why do you suppose they did that? Those who were supporting Sanders said they couldn't the time off from work.
Pick a side, we have rebuilding to do.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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