Are You Willing to Fight for Someone You Don’t Know?

Bernie Sanders asked a question at his New York City rally last Saturday. Within it lies the essential principle of Bernie’s political revolution.

“Are you willing to fight for someone you don’t know?”

I want you all to take a look around, and find someone you don’t know. Maybe somebody who doesn’t look kinda like you, maybe somebody who might be of a different religion than you, maybe they come from a different country. My question now to you, is are you willing to fight for that person, who you don’t even know, as much as you’re willing to fight for yourself?

Are you willing to stand together to fight for people who are struggling economically in this country? Are you willing to fight for young people drowning in student debt, even if you are not? Are you willing to fight to insure that every American has healthcare as a human right, even if you have good healthcare? Are you willing to fight for frightened immigrant neighbors, even if you are native born? Are you willing to fight for a future for generations of people who have not yet even been born, but are entitled to live on a planet that is healthy and habitable?

Because, if you are willing to do that, if you are willing to love, if you are willing to fight for a government of compassion and justice and decency, if you are willing to stand up to Trump’s desire to divide us up, if you are prepared to stand up to the greed and corruption of the corporate elite, if you and millions of others are prepared to do that, there is no doubt in my mind that not only will we win this election, but together we will transform this country.

~ Bernie Sanders, October 19, 2019, NYC

Bernie has dealt a direct challenge to all the nice people who sit, unruffled, in their own small bubble.

We Live Within Dynamic Systems

There is great value in the common good, for everyone (even the wealthy) — whether that is a thriving economy or a healthy planet. We all live within dynamic, responding, changing systems that require every part to perform at least adequately. You cannot withhold a living wage, healthcare, or education from anyone and possibly think that our overall social system is not damaged.

Think of the human body as a dynamic system. The brain and the heart are most essential, but you cannot cut off the feet in order to send extra blood to those organs. If the body were to survive such a maiming, it is forever handicapped. Sturdy feet provide the best way for a body to walk. Extra blood cannot be contained by vital organs, anyway. It needs to be shipped off-shore, so to speak… or go down the drain.

An economic system thrives when dynamic needs and desires demand a supply of goods and services. The more workers are paid, the more they have to spend, the more demand they create. (By the way, anyone who needs their paycheck, regardless of how large, belongs squarely in this wonderful working class that is the bulk of our citizenry.)

That the ecosystem depends on the balanced dynamics of every part within it should be apparent to anyone who has mastered fifth grade science. You can’t pollute and ravage land, water, and forests without dire consequences to the environment and the habitat of all living creatures, including humans.

No politician understands our social interdependence better than Bernie Sanders. So listen up. Everyone, tone down your own ego and self-importance. Now is the time to think #NotMeUs. Call it agape, aloha, or the golden rule, now is the time to evolve toward peace, compassion, inner strength, and unity. We must stand together in order to fight the misused power of large corporations and billionaires that is fueled by selfish greed and corruption.

We exist in big, sweeping systems, not small bubbles, actually.

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