Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today released a statement of frustration about yesterday’s presidential election, and as often happens when Sanders says something, he’s absolutely spot-on.

He said it on Twitter, by posting a picture of the text, so here’s what Sen Sanders said, typed, for easier reading and sharing.

It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is the Latino and Black workers as well.

While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.

Today, while the very rich are doing phenomenally well, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. Unbelievably, real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago.

Today, despite an explosion in technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents. And many of them worry that Artificial Intelligence and robotics will make a bad situation even worse.

Today, despite spending far more per capita than other countries, we remain the only wealthy nation not to guarantee health care to all as a human right and we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We, alone among major countries, cannot even guarantee paid family and medical leave.

Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all out war against the Palestinian people which has led to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children.

Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disaster campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.

In the coming weeks and months those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice need to have some very serious political discussions.

Stay tuned.

  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    if Americans truly wanted change that badly they would have voted 3rd party and amend their stupid political system. Voting for Trump is not wanting change — it’s wanting to justify your own terrible person.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      9 days ago

      Okay a lot can be said about Trump but he is an anti status quo candidate whose voter base consists of disenchanted voters who also happen to be racist as fuck.

      • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        What is this magical “Status quo” word supposed to mean here? Because Trumps is everything status quo and even more direct so. He’s literally supported by billionaires and republicans that run US right now.

        There’s much mental acrobatics here when the reality is much more simple. People are fucking stupid and american 2 party democratic system is fundamentally broken

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          9 days ago

          Because Trumps is everything status quo and even more direct so.

          Huh? Trump wants to deport immigrants, imposs tariffs on China (and everyone else he doesn’t like), buddy up to Putin, leave or weaken NATO, generally destroy civil rights, etc etc. How the fuck is any of this status quo policy?

          • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            That’s literally what half of your leaders want too, no? Literally almost every republican agrees with this.