BRATTLEBORO — We are now reaping the whirlwind of a political economy that has produced the widest class divide in this country in nearly 100 years.
We have one major party that represents an unprecedented form of extremism and the other major party that has abdicated its historic mission as a voice for the voiceless.
Increasingly since the 1970s, the parties have attended to the interests of the economic and political elites at the expense the most of the rest of the population.
The Democrats capitulated to the Republican “Southern Strategy” initiated by Nixon and nurtured by Reagan, Clinton and the Bushes. Both parties have served (Republicans) and acquiesced to (Democrats) the economic agendas of corporate capitalism.
Income inequality, environmental depredation, social insecurity and dislocation, racial animus, etc. - the needs of real people go virtually unaddressed.
Left in the wake are many of our citizens who can be susceptible to the powers of fear and deception.
For the last three decades, the opportunities for regular people have shriveled or evaporated completely. Our political system offers few real options to fundamentally address the interests of the majority.
Enter a demagogue espousing paranoia, hyperbole, simplistic solutions, nativism, scapegoats, and aggression, and couple him with a mass media that has again failed to bring truth to power.
Trump voters reacted in ways that seem logical and rational given their existential realities.
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Contrary to a delusional consensus, most of the supporters of the Republican president-elect are not mired in racism, homophobia, and misogyny. This country has fought too many democratic battles to turn away from that arc that bends towards justice.
We will not forget our hard-won victories or our defeats. The civil rights, women's, peace, labor, environment, and the gay rights movements have been some of our most powerful expressions of democracy in action. Democracy is not a static achievement but rather a process that needs constant nurturing. We have come too far to turn back.
As the Sanders campaigns - both in Vermont and, this year, across the nation - vividly demonstrated, we can build a coalition of hearts and hands which uses hope and optimism as a foundation to creating a truly democratic political economy that serves the aspirations of all our citizens.
It has been said that what is wrong with the United States can be fixed with what's right with the United States.
Now, more than ever, it is time for the people to lead the leaders.