It’s a rather stark choice. While Melenchon is a genuinely inspiring phenomenon, and a lot like Sanders, he does have a few policies or attitudes that progressives have a hard time embracing (e.g., he seems to have a soft spot for men in uniform, whether police or military, on whom he heaps praise for their service while all too often failing to acknowledge the criticism from communities of color). In fact, one radical position that is no doubt informed by lifelong opposition to U.S. imperialism — his call for France to leave NATO — makes me a little uneasy because I sense an appetite for projecting French “hard” power. He is definitely not a neocolonialist, but any expansion of French military prowess could certainly be a dangerous thing in the hands of future presidents. You need only look at his current rivals to comprehend the risk. Allow me to end by going back to another question, always dear to us socialists: How could such a win be achieved? Those of us who supported Bernie Sanders were not blind to the reality that his candidacy was going up against tremendously powerful forces that extended far beyond the characters in the Hillary Clinton posse. Capital opposes socialism. Now, if your politics lead you to believe that we should aim to build a prosperous middle-class society in which all people are viewed as equal (an idea with sky-high approval ratings), if that’s the end goal, then, my friend, you are at least somewhat of a socialist. Ergo, capital opposes you. During the crises of the 1930s, many capitalists were more than willing to throw democracy under the bus rather than suffer the insult of an equitable society. The specter of Le Pen joining Trump in government shows that we are there once again — and we’ve arrived at this point because of the policies of the Macrons, Fillons, Obamas, Clintons, Blairs and Thatchers. As Trump will, and Le Pen would, set out to dismantle the democratic republic, we must be honest with ourselves about the stakes involved. If we don’t win now democratically, it may take a revolution. Your support matters…

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In this Article:
#bernie sanders#brexit#donald trump#economy#election#emmanuel macron#fascism#france#françois hollande#jean-luc melenchon#marine le pen#president#socialism#td-original