the one, the only

A populist wave is sweeping the nation.

Same as the public elected FDR and his New Deal after the ‘29 Crash, the ‘07 Crash has inflamed Occupy Wall Street and the presidential candidacy of (another) democratic socialist. People are sick and tired (yet again) of the inequality and injustice that Washington has allowed to fester for decades; in response, we’re empowering firecrackers like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, leaders of a kind not seen in years.

The Revolution is being stoked.

And the other politicians know it.

It’s why, on both sides of the aisle, they’re adapting.

When Republicans say raising the minimum wage would be terrible, it’s not because “it’d be bad for rich corporations.” No, it’s because “it’d be bad for the people” —

Ben Carson: “Every time we raise the minimum wage, the number of jobless people increases... How do we allow people to ascend the ladder of opportunity, rather than how do we give them everything and keep them dependent? … I would not raise it.” Ted Cruz: “Every time you raise the minimum wage, the people who are hurt the most is the most vulnerable.” Marco Rubio: “If I thought that raising the minimum wage was the best way to help people increase their pay, I would be all for it, but it isn’t. In the 20th century, it’s a disaster.”

The “I want to help you” shtick is a shroud for their evil idea that paying workers more for their labor would somehow be bad for the poor, lower-, and middle-class people of this country. It is disgustingly dishonest.

When Donald Trump speaks about the middle-class being crushed and denounces the rich, it’s not because he truly believes it—

From Washington Times,

Middle-income people are being decimated, they’re being decimated,” Mr. Trump said Monday at his rally in Dallas. “We have a group of 200 [wealthy] guys, but the middle income in this country is being decimated, and we’re going to change it.”

—but because it’s what the people want. He’s not going to hurt the rich, he’s one of them.

When Ted Cruz talks revolution and says we need to destroy “corporate welfare,” it’s not because he’s actually going to do it — the guy has four Super PACS massing up millions and a tax plan that would throw scads of money to the rich — but because he recognizes the power in Bernie Sanders’ message.

When Hillary Clinton says her Wall Street plan is “tougher, more effective and more comprehensive,” it’s not because it actually is, but because being un-tough on the banks is political suicide. After empty promises and continued struggle, the American people are fed-up with letting Wall Street run amuck, and ready for real change.

Across the board, we’re in a populist sort of mood.

And we’re standing up.

Bernie Sanders is being funded on the proletariat’s dime more than any other candidate in history, drawing tens of thousands of people to his rallies, and gaining an impassioned, involved following. It’s we, the people who’re propelling him forward, not the millionaires and billionaires of Wall Street. Our grassroots support is actually strong enough for him to seriously compete monetarily with the likes of Super PAC candidate Hillary Clinton.

The Revolution has already begun, and it’s coming from the people. We’re buoying Bernie Sanders up, choosing him, a man of honesty, authenticity, and fierce anger on the behalf of the people, to lead us. He’s our standard-bearer, but it’s the people who are spreading the Revolutionary word. It’s proof that when the citizens unite, we carry immense power. Whatever we want en masse, those in power have to respond to. We’re their employers, the ones who hire, fire, and pay them. When we rise up together, we can bend the political system.

And that scares the living hell out of them.

To keep their power, politicians superficially respond to our outrage, adopting populist tones and doling out meaningless reassurances they’re on our side.

Don’t let them fool you with fake, calculated promises.

Even conservative Americans like Bernie, and his “socialist” ideas, and that’s made the Republican candidates change what they’re selling.

From Bloomberg Politics,

“During the first two debates, GOP candidates used words like ‘inequality,’ ‘disparity,’ ‘rich,’ ‘poor,’ and ‘middle class’ just 0.06 percent of the time, according to an analysis by the communications and consulting firm Logos Consulting Group. That rate tripled in the Oct. 28 debate, the first one after the Democratic debate that featured more discussion of inequality. It rose again to 0.20 percent in Tuesday night's GOP debate.”

The GOP and Hillary are talking populist because Bernie Sanders is gathering steam. They don’t really care about us, they’re just responding to our outrage at the 1% and the government in order to get power, pretending they’re not a part of either.

The people are waking up, supporting a leader who’s building a movement of humans compassionate for each other and angry at the power structure. We’re being stirred from our deep slumber, and Bernie’s freedom-truth-liberty message is speeding up the process.

And the elite are growing afraid, because, when you and I unite, we are all powerful. When we stand together, we can threaten the ruling class’s stranglehold on wealth and prosperity.

That power makes the establishment’s knees knock.

And they’re trying to squash us. They’re co-opting our Revolution— Both sides masking their corporate loyalties in democratic-sounding ideas designed to nab our vote.

From The Wall Street Journal,

The latest [GOP] presidential debate vividly captured how the 2008 financial crisis has reshaped the Republican Party by unleashing a potent populist strain that could further scramble an already unpredictable primary contest. Candidates vying for the 2016 GOP nomination have grown distinctly more leery of big banks, corporations and international trade deals, and outright hostile toward the Federal Reserve.

From Slate,

From Washington Times,

Mrs. Clinton has already adopted many of Mr. Sanders‘ liberal positions, including announcing support Sunday for raising the federal minimum wage to a $15 per hour “living wage”... Mrs. Clinton declared herself the living-wage candidate when she spoke by telephone to a convention of about 1,300 fast-food workers in Detroit. “I want to be your champion. I want to fight [for] you every day,” she said. “No one who works an honest job in America should have to live in poverty.”

This election season she’s morphed from saying “all lives matter,” talking about the “truckers” she “saw on I-80,” and calling us “everyday Americans,” to selling herself as a hang-loose hippie, saying she “come[s] from the ‘60s,” goofing around on Saturday Night Live, and dancing on Ellen.

It’s the new, populist, relaxed Hillary, concocted by specialists for your enjoyment. Please like her.

But, if you look closely, you can see a glimmer of truth behind the facade: she’s still not promising to break up the big financial institutions or raise taxes on “middle-class” people making up to a quarter of a million dollars a year. She’s got Super PACS instead of small donations. She still can’t explain why Wall Street won’t influence her.

And, having picked up a bit of headway in the last month, she’s even gone back to the right and called for a $12 wage instead of what she told those Detroit fast-food workers.

On Hillary’s campaign, Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi says —

The campaign season is a time of promises. Election and subsequent rule, we are to understand, are a time of disappointments, coupled with the behind-the-scenes repayment in favors for financial support – usually described to us using more gentle names like "pragmatism" or "reality."

On the GOP side, from the Wall Street Journal,

Candidates voiced concerns about the power of big banks, even as they promised to sweep away new regulations.

They’re spouting for-the-people rhetoric, but, if you peep the game carefully, you’ll see they’re actually promising to hurt us: $12 instead of $15, or no raise at all; minimal reforms on Wall Street or the further destruction of economic regulation; taking millions from the rich in exchange for taking care of them once in office; escalation in Syria and Iraq; slowly, incrementally advancing a progressive agenda or dismantling the one Obama tried to create.

Both Hillary and the Republicans are not actually proposing policies that would re-organize this country and this society FOR THE PEOPLE.

We say we have a democracy, but we do not.

Our elections are bought. Our people are poor. Our children go hungry and uneducated. Majority rule doesn’t elect the president, and only half of us vote. Voter turn-out is even less in the non-presidential elections, and the rich are only becoming richer, while the poor suffer.

Our leaders do not care for us, but calculate the bare minimum they can get away with feeding us (Hillary’s team literally held focus groups).

And we just eat it right up as what’s “necessary.”

All of these candidates, save Bernie, change what they say based on what the public wants. It’s happening right now. More and more, in response to the crowds and attention they’re seeing the democratic socialist Bernie Sanders attract, the other candidates are mirroring his talking points, stealing the message while ridiculing the messenger.

The for-the-rich politicians are working on getting elected by mimicking the words of the guy drawing tens of thousands to his rallies, running back to their wealthy handlers for more money, gleeful with the good news that it’s working, and then attacking the hell out of the candidate who’s been speaking this way for decades.

I am so sad. I am so afraid. I am so deeply worried.

I’m 22 years old. I need a country vastly different from the one we have right now, and Bernie’s our one shot for who knows how long. I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of the people who are supposed to be on our side, the establishment Democrats, saying that we can’t have a country of true justice. I’m tired of choosing the lesser of two evils. I’m tired of my fellow Americans living in poverty and struggle while the rich hoard mountains of gold.

This is about real life, real people, and the future of the laws that will govern my and my fellow young people’s lives for decades to come.

It’s about how we will live together on this chunk of land — in equality and freedom, or oppression and injustice?

If the GOP or Hillary succeeds, we will not have a country where you can work full-time and get out of poverty, always have health care, or receive a good education for free. Things will stay the same, and the people will suffer.

WE CANNOT DO THIS ANYMORE.

People’s lives depend on this election— children growing up in poverty, poor white Americans are dying, unarmed people of color being shot dead on the street by those assigned to protect them.

It is not a circus, it is not entertainment, it is not a game — it is deathly serious.

My fellow human beings on this earth, I rally you! Do not let them take our chance for true democracy and justice! Do not let their lies born of greed corrupt you! Peel back the populist shroud and uncover the aristocracy!

Every one of them is trying to sell themselves as the prophet of the people.

But there’s only one.

Here, I’ll give you a hint— his initials are what every other candidate is full of.