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A Socialist Guide to Sanderism

Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race. Here are some articles about the Sanders phenomena and why Left Voice thinks socialists shouldn’t have supported Bernie and instead, should build an independent, socialist organization.

Left Voice

April 8, 2020
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Andrew Harnik / AP

Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the 2020 election. Sanders’ rise was indicative of a leftward shift in the working class and especially in large swaths of the youth. He represented the “neoliberal generation” which is saddled with debt and struggling to make ends meet in the gig economy. Now that Sanders is out of the race and the limits of the Sanderist strategy have become clear, the millions of people who were energized by his campaign are looking for a new political project, one that can actually achieve the social change we need. 

Here at Left Voice, we want to discuss with all of these folks who want Medicare for All, public universities, and all of the things that Sanders wanted; we want to discuss with comrades who saw in Sanders a possibility of building for socialism and who want to fight for socialism even now. We’ve written a lot of articles on Bernie Sanders and the limits of supporting him. We don’t think that was the best way forward for socialists. We think that socialists need to build something of their own — they need their own party.

Here we present some of our articles that we have written over the years:

On dropping out today: Requiem for a (Social Democratic) Dream

The Democratic Party Rigs Elections Against Sanders

It’s Still Their Party (and Always Will Be)

Iowa and the Farce of American Democracy

The Forever Election

Who is Bernie Sanders?

What a Bernie Sanders Presidency Would Really Look Like

Sanders’ Speech Explains His Vision of Socialism—It Sounds a Lot like New Deal Liberalism

Socialists Shouldn’t Be in the Democratic Party

A Socialist Case Against Bernie 2020

Jacobin: From the “Dirty Break” to the Democratic Party

DSA Convention 2019: Sanderism and the Tyranny of the Procedural

We’ve been down this road before: Jesse Jackson, the Democrats and the left

Should the DSA Endorse Bernie Sanders?: A Socialist Feminist Debate

On Imperialism and Immigration

Not on Our Side: On Bernie Sanders and Imperialism

Bernie Sanders Versus Open Borders

Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Legitimize Regime Change in Venezuela

Socialists Must Be Anti-Imperialists

The 2016 Elections

Let’s Get over Sanders and Back into the Streets

Sanders, a Third Party, or a Working Class Party?

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Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

United States

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams stands at a podium.

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To Win, the UAW Strike Must Be Organized from Below

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Tristan Taylor

September 18, 2023

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Warren Montag

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China’s Rise, ‘Diminished Dependency,’ and Imperialism in Times of World Disorder

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Esteban Mercatante

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