by Gary Zuckett, Strategic Advisor
In early August, Bernie Sanders spent two days in WV holding a town hall discussion in Lenore and rallies in Wheeling and Charleston attended by thousands of West Virginians. A few months ago, WV-CAG was part of a small group of state leaders that met online with the Senator to make the case for a WV visit from the Senator. We served many roles in the execution of this event, had a table set up to do outreach to a very friendly crowd, and fielded a volunteer team to canvass attendees for involvement in local power building.
Senator Sanders emphasized several main points at each of the three events: That we shouldn’t let ourselves be divided between red & blue; that we live in the wealthiest country on the planet but that wealth is way too concentrated at the top; that our healthcare, childcare, education and democracy have all been transformed into profit machines for the corporate class; and that working class folks have much more in common with each other rather than the billionaires no matter who we voted for.
Bernie underscored that the red state/blue state narrative is a divisive distraction that pits us against each other when, in reality, the real fight in this country is not between the right and the left but between the top and the bottom.
The Senator stressed that working-class families are all in the same boat, regardless of the state they live in or how they voted. Too many are working paycheck to paycheck, worrying about how to juggle an increasingly unaffordable pile of bills for healthcare, childcare, food, housing and student loans or tuition. Meanwhile, since the 1970s, the real purchasing power of the average paycheck has decreased, even though workers’ productivity has increased significantly. This is the trickle-up economy where all the wealth gushes to the top 1% and leaves the rest of us behind.
Another point brought up again and again is that our elections have been bought by the billionaires. At every event, Bernie called out that horribly wrong 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs FEC, where the Court said that, since corporations were “people,” they should be allowed to spend as much money as they wanted buying our elections. This ruling unleashed the tsunami of dark money that fueled the takeover of our elections by the billionaire class. Case in point: Elon Musk spent $240 million, and the cryptocrats spent over $100 million to install the current MAGA regime. We are now seeing our government dismantled into a weapon against us to further enrich those who bought our politicians.
The Democratic majority in Congress during the Obama administration could have fixed campaign finance laws to undo Citizens United, another point the Senator raised – both major parties are beholden to the corporate billionaire class. A grassroots resistance is needed to push back against this sellout of our democracy.
Another example of our exploitation by the billionaires is our broken healthcare system, which Bernie pointed out has the highest per capita cost in the world. However, compared to other industrial nations, it delivers subpar results. The reason is that it’s designed not to provide quality health care for all, but to ensure that big pharmaceutical and insurance companies make billions off what we need to stay alive.
Bernie called Trump out on his constant demonizing of undocumented immigrants, reminding us that this is one of the central tactics of successful dictators, to blame all our nation’s troubles on a scapegoated minority and distract us from reality—the real damage comes from the oligarchy and its billionaires.
Education was the final piece of the puzzle that Sanders lifted up. From birth to the university (or trades), we should have a support system in place to help maximize the potential of all our children and provide tuition-free education in our public universities. An educated nation is a productive nation. Saddling graduates with decades of student debt is not a way to move our country forward.
Bernie wrapped up his speech by challenging the crowd to get organized, build local power, and take back our local, state and federal governments through the ballot box. That’s where WV Citizen Action comes in.
You can join our organizing around climate, healthcare, the Big Bad Betrayal Bill, and more by signing up for one of our online committees or attending one of our Fundamentals of Organizing trainings, which are being held locally in-person around the state.
Together we can create a stronger future for West Virginia and our communities. Join us at https://wvcag.org/membership/. Want to learn more? Please send us a note at organizing@wvcag.org.
