2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: In all the "Bernie would have won/No he wouldn't" posts I've read........... [View all]socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)second paragraph is PART of antiestablishmentarianism. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Yes they are different manifestations of the sentiment with different prescriptions involved, but they ALL go against what is considered the "mainstream" thinking in society. Racists and misogynists go against the American establishment's tenet of an "equal" society as does ANY form or social injustice. "Greedy bastards" goes against the establishment's meme that capitalists can be trusted to use their influence for the benefit of ALL of society. Persistent income equality, especially that hangs on for decades, goes against the establishment's core concept that "anybody can become a billionaire in the US". Undemocratic pressures goes against the establishment's trope that we have the freest and best society possible.
I don't disagree much with your third paragraph, except to point to MANY polls on ISSUES that show that Americans are really more "center-left" than "center-right" on ISSUES. Many polls and CONSISTANT polls that show this. The problem, IMO, is that a lot of folks who believe in those center-left positions don't think that their vote makes a difference, so they're views are not reflected in the political arena. These are the people who are ripe for a true revolutionary message that bypasses the game of bourgeois "democracy" entirely and goes for revolutionary change. A LOT of the current Democratic Party and ALL of the current Republican Party thinks that this vast number of disaffected voters are not important, but that number is almost half of the electorate on a consistent basis in every election. That's actually the biggest chunk of population.
Agree with your last paragraph.