Bernie supporters must reject “lesser-evil” arguments and back Jill Stein instead.
I was dismayed but not surprised Tuesday when Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his bid for the Democratic nomination and endorsed his rival, Hillary Clinton. I was even less surprised by Tristan Fitzpatrick’s latest column in which he championed Sanders’ decision to endorse the corporate candidate.
It’s a tempting position to take — voting out of fear of a threat like Trump — but it’s one we must reject if we want to live in a country that truly works for all of us. We must resist the scare tactics of the corporate Democratic Party and instead throw our support behind the other woman running in this race, Jill Stein of the Green Party.
For far too long, the Democrats have used the politics of “lesser-evilism” to compel progressives into submission: “at least we’re not Republicans!” But the truth is that both parties are in collusion to ensure their corporate donors remain in power while the rest of us suffer.
Where Clinton is pro-fracking, because she’s received more donations from the oil industry than any other candidate in the race, Stein wants to put a moratorium on fracking. As part of her Green New Deal, she wants to transition the U.S. to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, adding thousands of jobs in the process and ensuring the slowdown of global climate change. Clinton, meanwhile, has a plan to convert to only 33 percent renewable energy by 2027 — such a half measure is too little too late.
It’s voting for the lesser evil, and the neoliberal economic policies they have put in place to appease the corporations that fund them, that allowed for a right-wing, “populist” figure like Trump to rise so quickly: Americans are fed up with the status quo, and instead of blaming the political establishment that rigged the economy against working people, they blame immigrants, African-Americans, Muslims and every other group that Trump has attacked.
Join the Monroe County Green Party at MCPL (Room 1C) on Saturday, July 30, at 2 p.m. to learn more about Jill Stein and how to get involved.
Riley Zipper
