Last week, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders visited Tampa where he spoke to 7,000 people at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Sanders’ campaign has helped dispel the taboo around socialism, inspiring a new generation to cast off political cynicism and despair. According to polls, nearly six-in-10 Democratic primary voters believe socialism has a “positive impact on society.”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation unites with the desires of Sanders supporters who want to fight for a new system to ensure basic rights for all people and make meeting human needs, not profit, the driving force in society. We have also been in the streets together in protests against the racist demagogue Donald Trump. At the same time, the Vote PSL campaign provides a revolutionary socialist and anti-imperialist perspective, which differs substantially from that of Bernie Sanders, on how we can end the rule of the billionaire class.
At the rally, Liberation News interviewed dozens of Bernie supporters about what they think of socialism and what “political revolution” means to them. Below are some of the responses.
“Socialism works. We need change. We need to get away from capitalism because it’s killing our economy and killing our planet.” —Lorenzo Bertoglio
“Capitalism always leads to a situation where you have people at the bottom of the chain who are suffering, who can’t have a good quality of life, and then people at the top who will p-ss away their wealth, more in an afternoon than some poor guy on the street uses all week. I can’t sit by in a system like that and feel good about myself.” —Axel Martin
“I feel like socialism will take out the top 1 percent. If we keep going on how we’ve been going, voting for the Hillary’s and the Obama’s who just pander to the 1 percent, then we’re not getting anything done, it’s not for us, it’s for them.” —Weston Epps
“Capitalism is a broken system. I believe in the political revolution because we’re all in this together. People revolt when their voices aren’t being heard, and I feel like ours haven’t been for decades now. That’s why everyone’s here.” —Shannon O’Brien
“I like socialism because it’s very freeing. I’m a student and I don’t have that much money. I’m already so far into debt and I haven’t even finished my college career.” —Marque Noble
“Socialism is the right thing to do, because I care about my fellow human beings.” —Pat Connolly
“I think it’s very important that we have a government that works for the people and provides for the people, for basic necessities. I’m really happy to be here with my kids because this is the chance for everyone to stand up and fight back, and say ‘No, we’re not letting this government be run by corporations, the wealthy and the few.'” —Deanie Bergbreiter
“One thing about socialism that’s attractive to me is the community effort that goes into the government entity. This isn’t so much a revolution as it is a realization. You have kids 18 and 19 showing up. It’s eye-opening.” —Devon Lu
“I like socialism because I think it’s for the 99 percent, the working class—that’s what most of us are. I’m a working-class citizen and I’m also young, I’m a millennial. The future is ours.” —Taylor Oliver
“I feel like Bernie’s right in wanting to make the top 1 percent accountable. The political revolution is the general public and the bottom 90 percent, the ones really suffering, standing up for ourselves and each other.” —Kimberly Cruz:
“I believe that every person, regardless of their income level, regardless of the family that they were born into, has an innate right to health care and opportunity. The people are standing up and saying, ‘We need to take matters into our own hands.'” —Cassandra Campbell
“A revolution is standing against what is oppressing the people.” —Alba Bulkevage
“The political revolution means coming together because they feel that they’re being wronged and that the system that we have now isn’t working for them. They’re joining together in a coalition for the common good.” —Samuel Heenan Winegar
“Socialism is a better alternative than what we have going for us right now. What we currently have isn’t doing too much for us. The political revolution means a chance for people who’ve never had the opportunity to be thriving in this society to finally come to the front and have opportunities that they haven’t had in the past.” —Brenna Maginness
“I like socialism because I think there is so much wealth in our country that it should be distributed to everyone and not just concentrated in the top 1 percent. I believe in things like universal health care and giving people the rights that they deserve.” —Madeline Bowman
Dare to struggle! Dare to win!
To learn more about PSL presidential candidate Gloria La Riva and vice presidential candidate Eugene Puryear, as well as their platform, visit VotePSL.org.
