So, I was actually leaning toward writing something like this, but watching Crystal Ball's interview with Bernie and how he snubbed Kyle Kulinski really punctuates the need for it. I'm done with Bernie. The dude is the past, he isn't the path forward any more, and I'm distancing myself from him both for political reasons and ideological reasons.
Bernie was always a compromise for me
I mean, he was. And this was what I was gonna write my original article about. The reason i supported Bernie in 2016 was because he was the one who wanted to push the overton window left. He was the only one. Hillary was fundamentally opposed to the idea of large scale economic change like I believe we need, and Bernie at least wanted something like what I wanted.
But, as we know due to my past year of articles, I never was really aligned perfectly with the progressive movement. Just as I thought I was a democrat between 2012 and 2016, I thought I was a progressive between 2016-2020. Sometimes I end up identifying more with movements that are closeish to me than letting myself speak my truth, and honestly, I just used Bernie as a vehicle, just like I used the democratic party, to get to where I wanna go. But then tensions form and I end up having a falling out with these groups.
Honestly, I supported Bernie as a pragmatic choice. He wasn't a perfect match for my politics, and I have strong disagreements with him on subjects like UBI and the green new deal. And honestly, I'm gonna be honest, before 2020, despite being a huge UBI supporter, i believed it was a pipe dream. I even kinda snubbed Yang in supporting Bernie for politically pragmatic reasons as I thought his campaign would get me where I wanted to go more than yang. For all the talk of how I don't compromise, I was bending over backwards compromising with Bernie.
But here's the thing. Between Yang's run, and COVID, UBI is a lot more "in discussion" idea now. It's actually being discussed and debated. It's being taken seriously. If Bernie was my path to shift the overton window so we could accomplish UBI, then mission accomplished, we're already there. And I wonder how much Bernie really had to do with it. It was really Yang's movement combined with the pandemic crippling the economy that did it. Bernie supporters hate UBI. Because it's not what progressives normally want, which is jobs programs and means tested welfare. Well, yeah, sorry, ideological difference there. Being an ex conservative, I believe government as it exists is inefficient and I believe in giving money to people and cutting out the middleman. Sorry.
The fact is, there's no reason for me to continue to support the dude. With UBI hitting the mainstream, he's become less relevant for me, as Bernie was just a vehicle to discuss issues I care about.
Bernie is selling out
The KKF interview made me realize how far Bernie has fallen. For as much crap as Yang gets, Yang is far more of an outsider than Bernie at this point. After 2020, Bernie decided to work with his "deal old friend" biden in pushing Biden's agenda, and the interview made it clear that he's just a mouthpiece for the Biden administration at this point. Yang, on the other hand, is writing a tell all book on his experiences and treatment in the 2020 race. He's not cucking out to Biden.
Speaking of cucking out to Biden, in order to appear on KKF, Bernie explicitly made the condition not to talk to Kyle Kulinski. And the neolibs are rushing to Bernie's defense, pointing out how Kyle has called Bernie a cuck and how he needs to be more professional in decorum.
Cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck cuck!
Yeah that's just my way of saying screw decorum policing craplibs. I mean, they have a point, but it's the wrong framing of the point. It is because Kyle would call bernie a cuck to his face that he didn't interview him. But that's the problem. Bernie wanted softballs. He went on KKF for a fluff interview to sell the Biden administration to ptogressives. And he didn't want to interview an outsider like kyle who would be critical of him. That's the thing I hate about the democratic party. it's this huge social circlejerk of pretending to support each other and build rapport while not doing anything. And due to Bernie not being willing to push Biden and call Biden out for not doing enough, he's so afraid of being screwed by Biden if he's critical of him he's totally been captured and coopted. He has to play this delicate social game of appeasing his more moderate colleagues and runs the risk of being shut out if he doesn't play along, while still appealing to the left. And he's just selling out. He isnt fighting like he was. And that's always been Bernie's weakness. THe dude does not fight.
Now, to be fair, I've defended AOC before on this, how is this different? Uh, to some extent, it isn't, but here's the thing. It's fine to avoid taking on strategic fights you cant win. AOC is only one person, has so much power, etc. So is Bernie. But, Bernie has been going this way for a while. He was a presidential candidate, and he's been terrified of going against the dems directly for fear of splitting the party. So he tries to work with them on mediocre compromises. And now he goes on podcasts he thinks will raise his status, demands they be done a certain way, excluding hosts from their own show, and then advertises for Biden. Even if you wanna avoid taking on Biden directly or being too critical, you cant sell me crap. Bernie always tried to sell me Hillary, and now he's trying to sell me Biden.No. While I have issues with purity testing lefties who cant be satisfied no matter what the dem establishment is still my enemy, and I wont buy anything from anyone trying to sell them. Doesn't matter if they're Bernie or whomever. No. I dont buy it.
Bernie is too old
Another thing for me. Bernie is too old. He lost in 2016, he lost in 2020, he's gonna be 82 in 2024. He's old. He isn't gonna be running again. And I really wonder what the future of his movement holds. A lot of them are eating their own. Bernie is a strong moral leader when he gives stump speeches, but he's weak in governance. And his movement isnt happy, and it is divided. Some are becoming too establishment oriented where they're quite frankly selling out and defending Biden. They're being coopted. But the others are being too extreme and purity testy where they cant be satisfied. Few rational moderates exist between those extremes. And with that, what is the future gonna hold here? Who is gonna take the reins in 2024? Nina turner? Who knows. Will they be accepted? Does the progressive movement have anywhere to go? They seem to be imploding between half of them being coopted and the other half becoming so extreme theyre basically the left version of Trumpers.
Yang, on the other hand, seems to have it more together. he lost his mayoral run, and boom, now a new book detailing whats wrong with the system as he sees it. Note the difference between bernie and yang. Bernie is selling Biden to people. Yang is writing books calling for ranked choice voting. Yet yang is the sell out. Lol.
A warning to the Yang Gang/UBI community
Look, we gotta be straight as an arrow on this. Which is one of the reason I've written so much this year. I too believe we need an entire new ideology and a new movement. I dont really speak for yang himself. Yang is flawed too. Ive discussed my differences with him too. And I stand by that. But, he represents me more than anyone right now. I can always write a distancing article on him later.
But, I would like to offer this advice. Look at the progressives and beware. First, focus on the types who wanna get coopted. Hate to air dirty laundry, but I actually distanced myself from a basic income forum recently because of a new moderator there. Dude is a total biden bro and super "pragmatic." Not the only reason i cant stand him, but it is a reason. Dude represents a trend Im seeing in the UBI community to rebrand tons of crappy "not UBI" policies as UBI. Like Biden's tax credit. And a lot of yang gangers think yang shouldve taken part in the Biden administration to get experience. Never mind that thats how you get coopted and being an outsider is a good thing. I dont want insiders. As kulinski said of bernie, you get washington brain and coopted that way. Youre not necessarily corrupt, but you end up adopting this super compromising ideology where you start just accepting anything and lowering your standards. Dont do it. UBI is a UBI. Tax credits and flawed NITs arent a real UBI, sorry. They dont have the same kick.
On the flip side, dont be so purity testy you have standards that cant be met. Dont be so rigid you cant accept any compromise. Recognize good faith actors. Even people like Bernie and AOC mean well to some extent. Even if they do "sell out" I do get the whole "theyre only one person" arguments. But, hey, as outsiders, were not required to defend that crap, and we shouldnt defend that crap. But at the same time, we shouldnt become so extreme we cant be satisfied. Again, have achieveable target metrics, focus on the few issues you care about, and then be flexible otherwise. Theres a balancing. If youre too purity testy youll never find ground with anyone, but the establishment has a way of coopting people. Recognize the difference between a good faith actor and someone who just shills for the establishment.
The reason im calling bernie out is because this latest interview is apologia, and the reason he did it the way he did, in excluduing kyle, was so that crystal would ask him softballs and no one would actually ask him the hard questions. And that needs to be done. Sorry, screw decorum. Screw defending Biden. Biden sucks, there I said it. but that doesnt mean anything that isnt my specific form is purity is a lie either. The truth is in between.
Forward
We need to move forward, regroup, and offer an alternative to Biden's neoliberalism on the left. Progressives arent it either. We need something like the Yang gang, but honestly i dont like Yang as a leader either. He makes poor decisions at times, but hes also at the same time a great visionary, perhaps even better than bernie. And in reality i believe he isnt in with the establishment, heck while Bernie is playing paddy cake with Biden, Yang is going to outline the way forward. And I'm heavily looking forward to that. And if Yang fails, well, we gotta move forward from him too.
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