We are told that this November we face the choice between a man who wants to build a border wall and a woman who’s already built a border fence. We are told that this vote is the most important there has ever been. We are told that having objections to this choice is flaunting our privilege.
But in fact, Americans of all races, genders, sexualities and national origins found expression in the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., only to be blocked at every point by the so-called “party of the people.” Through their undemocratic methods, the Democratic Party organized superdelegates, party staffers, allies in the media and billionaire donors to stand against his campaign.
The International Socialist Organization has been fighting for decades for the reforms that Sen. Sanders advocated for and so many more. Central to the ISO’s work is fighting racism and police brutality, bringing an end to sexism through achieving a society with female liberation (including access to free and safe abortion), ending imperialism and military occupation across the globe and creating a world run by the people. Sanders’ goals were admirable and his campaign was successful in some regards, but his decision to run with the Democratic Party was doomed to fail from the start.
At this turning point in history, we need politics that are truly independent from billionaires who profit off of our oppression and parties that have two hundred years of experience in quelling and co-opting social movements.
When we think that voting is all that we can do to participate in political life, we are forced to lower our expectations. But if we recognize that salvation will never come through the Democratic Party, we remove the blinders and can see the full set of political alternatives.
Dr. Jill Stein’s campaign within the Green Party is centered on cutting the military, transitioning to green energy, a $15 minimum wage and ending police brutality and mass incarceration. While Jill Stein certainly won’t win the election, supporting her campaign is one of the steps to independent politics.
Our organization, the International Socialist Organization, is committed to bringing students and non-students across the nation to fight for an end to all forms of oppression and raising the expectations of working people and students. We need a world where people don’t start adulthood $40,000 in debt or go bankrupt from a medical emergency. We need a world where our taxes don’t fund deportations and military occupations. The only way to get to this better world is by fighting for it.
We invite you to join us as we organize this fight. Our kick-off meeting is Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. in Room 1313 of Sterling Hall. Check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ISOMadison/ for more information. Throughout the fall semester, we will meet every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Sterling 1313.
Brook Tylka is a senior at UW-Madison majoring in History, Legal Studies and Sociology.
