To Dr.
Robert Reich,
THE SANDERS INSTITUTE
131 CHURCH STREET
BURLINGTON, VT 05401
131 CHURCH STREET
BURLINGTON, VT 05401
Dear Dr. Reich,
Thank you for your letter to me.
I would like to respond you, and hope my response will reach you as well.
The Sanders Institute does a good job providing
some general education and emotional support to people interested in
progressive politics.
But unfortunately it does not offer anything to
people who already have deep understanding of the current politics, its roots,
and who have a clear view about the most important steps required to correct
the current social, economic, and political course of the Country.
In its current state the Sanders Institute is no different from many other political groups
and movements in the field of progressive or liberal activism.
The strong impression is that activists and
politicians in all those groups, including the Sanders Institute, have no idea about
the political history of the last half of the century – and I mean the world
history. It is like nothing has ever existed except America, and only in America
people experience for the first time in the whole world political battles and
revolutions.
But nothing happening in America today is
actually new, had had its versions in Russia, Germany, England, France (at the
least).
The lessons from that political history are
being ignored.
In result, activists and politicians in all those
groups, including the Sanders Institute, concentrate on logical and emotional
appeal to the population.
By the way, conservatives do it much much
better than progressive groups, including the Sanders Institute.
But much more significant is that the most important question of politics – the
question about power – cannot be resolved purely on logical and emotional
appeal to the population –
it requires a specifically
designed hierarchical organization.
No one, including the Sanders Institute, is building
such an organization.
That is why all the efforts of all progressive
groups, including the Sanders Institute, are bound to fail.
The best-case scenario is that in 2018 the
Democrats restore their majority in the Congress. But that DOES NOT mean the
victory for the progressive agenda, including the agenda of the Sanders Institute.
The approval rate of the Congress is dismal.
But is has been that way for at least a decade – no matter which party had the majority!
Thinking that restoring the Democratic majority in the Congress
is the equivalent of the victory for the progressive agenda is an illusion or a
delusion (those are the best- and the worst-case scenarios).
An actual political revolution begins from a thorough
study of the history, and the
development of a new working model of
political structure of a society (sine a revolution is a transition from an
old state to the new one, it requires the vision of the new state).
That demands willingness to spend time on
rethinking and critical analysis of all previous views and models.
I have been saying again and again that it will
be absolutely useless to apply ordinary method trying to solve an extraordinary
problem.
The mere fact that almost no one could predict
the victory for Donald Trump is already a sufficient proof that no existing socio-political
or economic model can be used to design the right political steps.
Some elements of the new model have been
presented in the series of my posts at:
and
including such post as:
Creativity, Tax
Code, and Human Psychology.
Senator Sanders
has made his mind – he will NOT run in 2020 to become the President, but ...
“A spectre is
haunting America – the spectre of … .”
Conservative
Liberals – future Porgs of the political America (hopefully).
Are the political
parties usable? That is a ... question
For progressives
Convergence seems yet elusive - but still possible!
Who
are the real wealth creators?
The
worst birthday gift to Senator Sanders
When will the
Democrats make the first step of the 12-step program (admitting!)? Seems -
never!
Peering through the
fog of brainwashing: the real reasons behind the conservative politics.
Why did Hillary Clinton
Lose the Race? Or. Conformism and Arrogance of The Establishment. And. What To
Do Now?
Dear Senator Sanders,
Thank you for your letter
"The True Role
Of The Third Party In The U.S. In The Current Political Environment", or
"What Do We Really Need From The First Truly Third Political Party?"
Democratic Party
Leaders Have No Vision
“A Sane America” vs.
“An Insane America”; The Latter Has Won (so far)
An Open Letter to
Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Chuck Schumer, and
Senator Al Franken
As you can see, the volume of my writing is
within the volume of a small book; feel free to use it for the advantage of the
cause of the Sanders Institute.
Thank you for staying engaged,
Valentin
P.S. It seems that people at the Sanders
Institute do not know human psychology well enough. You should do more than
just asking “What do you think?” You need to ask to provide comments and
advertise that the best 25 comments will be posted on a web page designated to
presenting the best comments; and once in a while even stir a competition and
the winner will be talking live with some of the members of the Institute. You
need to use a variety of approaches to engage the public into the conversation,
and then build on it your local branches.
A letter
from the Sanders Institute
Valentin,
The U.S. Congress has not passed a Federal
Budget this year, which is one of their primary responsibilities and a
fundamental function of government. They have been “kicking the can down the
road” since October 1st of last year by passing four continuing
resolutions.
The underlying choice isn't just protecting the
Dreamers or providing $25 billion to construct a border wall. It's also coming
up with a federal budget, and deciding what our priorities should be as a
nation. Some members of Congress would like to see us increase military
spending by $180 billion without any corresponding increase in domestic
spending. We have some other ideas.
The Sanders Institute and I have worked
together to make this short video explaining where we are now, how we got here,
and the options that could be on the table if our government was
working as it should.
Thank you for staying engaged,
Robert Reich
