Sawant has appealed to the Green Party and its presumptive nominee, Dr. Jill Stein, to “make a public call to Sanders to run on the Green Party ticket.” She said she expects to support the Green Party ticket in the presidential race. “We are calling on Bernie to convene a conference of activists, organizers, his campaign supporters, to discuss building a new left party for the 99 percent, free of corporate money and independent of the Democrats and the Republicans,” she said. “We may have to do this. We cannot fold up and go home if Bernie does not do it.” Sawant conceded that if Trump becomes the Republican candidate it would tilt voters, however reluctantly, into the Democratic camp. She cautioned against these sentiments. “A lot of the people who are voting for Trump are doing so because they are angry at the establishment,” she said. “They could be drawn toward a left-wing alternative if there is one running through November. My question to those who say Bernie should not run through November as an independent is this: In an era when there is historic anger against the establishments in both parties, why should a Donald Trump have a monopoly on the anti-establishment vote? Why shouldn’t the left fight for every single anti-establishment vote?” “Hillary Clinton epitomizes the establishment,” she said. “This is why there must be a genuine left-wing option. There must also be an understanding of how movements are built and how change happens. And lesson No. 1 is not to be paralyzed by one presidential election year.” “There is a sense, especially among many middle class people, that Americans are apathetic, things aren’t bad enough, things need to get worse,” she said. “It does not work like that. Yes, the anger being expressed through support for Sanders is anger over economic inequality and the bailout of the banks. But it is not a linear equation that things get worse and people get mobilized. The heyday of the labor movement did not come at the height of the Depression. It came when the recovery was well underway. It came after New Deal programs. It came when industries were jump-started, after years of stagnation, in the mobilization before the Second World War. It was only when working-class jobs were created, when people started going back to the workplace, that real impetus for unionization and a fight for better working conditions happened.” “This is worth remembering. It is why there is a sense of urgency now to build a movement. There will be events happening, like another double-dip economic crisis. These events will be beyond our control. We should not have a naive belief that when things get worse, people get into combat mode. No, it might force a lot of people to get out of activism to look after emergent needs, especially if there is massive job loss.” “Europe is a guide,” she said. “The roots of the European Union were entirely pro-capitalist, pro-banker and pro-bond holder. It was sold as an experiment in democracy and equality. That was a sham. Britain is looking at dropping out of the European Union. The framework of capitalism does not provide a solution to the refugee crisis. The right wing is offering solutions and gaining ascendancy in countries such as Sweden, France and Greece. This is not because people are predisposed to be right wing or anti-refugee. It comes from the vacuum of a real socialist alternative to capitalism. This vacuum creates the fodder for the right wing. It is precisely because of the rise of right-wing movements that we need to build a genuine left-wing movement. The right wing won’t be countered by supporting Clinton.” “My biggest fear is that there could be an abdication of responsibility by the leadership of the left to provide an alternative,” she said. “We can’t react to events. We have to shape events. We need a party of the 99 percent.” Your support matters…

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#99 percent#bernie sanders#donald trump#green party#hillary clinton#jill stein#kshama sawant#president#racism#seattle#socialism#td-original#usa