First Corbyn, now Sanders: Why the Transatlantic democratic socialist wave is not to be

[LiberalArkie]

By Nicholas Sheppard, journalist, opinion-editorialist, who has written for Politico, The Federalist, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, and authored the novel Broken Play.

With Keir Starmer replacing Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the UK Labour Party, and Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign in the US, the wave of democratic socialism, which seemed capable of reshaping both the US and UK, has receded.

There are four major reasons why: the limits to which such movements can broaden their base, timing and events, ideological inflexibility in the face of criticism, and attempts to weaponize PC identity politics along with their more mainstream colleagues, which were undermined in the public eye by contradictions like the scandal around anti-Semitism in the UK Labour Party, and the obnoxious behaviour of some of the ‘Bernie Bros’ in the US.

Snip

They failed for several reasons. The first is that, with Sanders vs Biden being, in many ways, Sanders vs Clinton redux, we are seeing again the limits of movement politics, the extent of expansion, the pre-eminence of the establishment, and the ability of the establishment to move with facility and cohesion to supervene at critical junctures. Secondly, ideological obstinacy is a double-edged sword. As leaders of pure ideological movements, the likes of Corbyn and Sanders often have a blind spot where they confuse inflexibility with authenticity. In Sanders’ case, this manifested itself as an inability to recognise any danger in failing to qualify his praise of aspects of the Castro regime, at a critical time when vast numbers of observers and voters were becoming increasingly anxious about Sanders’ rise. Thirdly, such movements are vulnerable to, and not particularly agile at, adapting to major events: in Corbyn’s case, Brexit became a complicating and overshadowing saga, which he responded to in an ambivalent way. When it became the dominant issue, requiring an emphatic response, movement politics became a secondary priority to the public. In Sanders’ case, ideological purity became secondary to the chief consideration registered by Democratic voters in polls: the need to defeat Donald Trump. Lastly, these progressive movements have hypocritical contradictions: an undertow of anti-Semitism in the UK Labour Party, the occasional misogynistic tendencies of some of the ‘Bernie-Bros,’ combined with ‘woke’ identity politics that can, and have attempted to, vindictively suppress opposing views through ‘cancel-culture.’

The vast numbers who follow Bernie Sanders will not disappear; but Sanders has been a singular figure: unerring in his message, and amassing support over decades. There is no obvious successor. The UK Labour Party, languishing under Corbyn, and alienating its working-class base with identity politics, will not be returning to the far-left for the foreseeable future. The notion of a Transatlantic ascendancy of democratic socialism, radically reshaping the US and the UK, seemed a realistic proposition for a whole year. That high tide has now receded.

More

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/485372-corbyn-sanders-socialist-wave/

[empedocles]

1. Also, the character of Corbyn and Sanders not too helpful

[LiberalArkie]

2. I changed the last 2 paragraphs to cut to the chase of the post

[Jake Stern]

3. An article from Putin's English language mouthpiece?

Vlad thanks you for the clicks!

[angrychair]

4. It's not really the ideals

That is obvious. It's part messenger and part ideological purity.
Like everything, it has to have the right messenger, delivering the right message.

All the things Bernie advocated for are possible, maybe not the way he might have envisioned, but still possible.

[brush]

5. Whether it was a mental block or his naivete, Sanders, who lived his whole life...

in this country, somehow failed to understand how toxic socialism is to millions of Dem voters and the nation.

It's way past time to stop reliving late-night, dorm room discussions by '60s campus radicals railing against the "establishment".

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Our neighbor knows Corbyn on a personal level.

As Andrew calls him,he was a Shit when we were in Primary School together and he is still a Shit today.

Andrew was a leader in the Musician Union and Corbyn did his level best to just piss off every Union member in England.

[denem]

7. RT?

Zip it.

[Blue_true]

8. I wish that some people would stop conflating "establishment" with

everyday rank and file democratic voters. Voters rejected Sanders and Corbyn, not some mythical group operating from some smoke-filled warroom.