I am not unaware of flaws in Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party – problems about transparency, money in politics and political expediency. Okay, they are still human and coming out of the old political models. But there’s a lot to celebrate, too, and the nonsense that was spewed about the Democratic Convention – even by admirers – needs to be countered.
1. Bernie Hurt the Party by Waiting so Long to Endorse Clinton
Total nonsense. Bernie Sanders and his supporters have probably saved the Democratic Party, not only in this election, but for the future. First, he captured the majority of young Democratic voters, including many minorities. That means there’s a future for this party. Second, his movement impacted the Democratic Party Platform and gave Hillary Clinton the ammunition to help combat Trump with disaffected white voters, which might save the election. Economic issues had been swept under the rug for too long, and even if the Democrats don’t win this time around, they finally are standing FOR something. And finally, Bernie had the graciousness and common sense to unite with other Democrats to keep the momentum going for the stands Democrats are increasingly embracing, and he did it at the right time, after the victories of the movement supported Hillary to embrace a more progressive stand.
2. The Democratic Convention Hijacked the Republican Party’s Theme of Patriotism
Many Republican commentators remarked that the Democrats stole the theme of patriotism from the Republicans. Again, total nonsense. Is patriotism personified by people who support unjust wars or salute the flag of unbridled capitalism? Or is patriotism personified by people who care for the American people and hopefully all people? Maybe these commentators missed the last two elections where Barack Obama campaigned on a platform of hope and caring for one another? Or maybe they forgot Pete Seeger, the Communist-baited American folk singer who said “This land is your land, this land is my land.” Waving a flag and giving into hawkish foreign policies or pro-business rationalizations is NOT patriotism. America belongs to the people and always has, and patriotism means caring for the people, not the flag. What’s good for General Motors is NOT always good for America, and we’re not buying that definition of patriotism anymore. And propping up dictators for the good of our business interests does not define patriotism anymore either. People need to be angry sometimes and need to express their anger, when they are being ignored, but it’s amazing how more patriotic we sound when all people are included in the conversation and when we share in the power.
3. The Democratic Party Also Hijacked the Republican Party’s Theme of Faith
Commentators made this case, too, and this one blows me away also. Some people seem to think that spirituality is owned by certain Christian sects, but the truth is that faith is a way of being in the world and spirituality is the feeling of connection with all being. I guess these observers have not noticed Rev. Jesse Jackson and other black ministers in the Democratic Party. They haven’t noticed the multitude of other fervently religious people at Party confabs, such as many of the other black delegates, progressive Jews and Sister Simone of the Nuns on the Bus, who spoke at the 2012 convention. I guess people don’t understand that Oneness is the essence of spirituality, and whether you’re a Marxist, a Muslim, a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, a follower of indigenous spirituality or none, if you believe in Oneness, you are coming from a deep sense of spirituality. Religion and spirituality belong to no party and no group. And Oneness is the keynote of all true faith.
4. The Republican Party Needs to Reach Out More to Minorities, Like the Democrats Have
No, Republicans, the Democrats are not reaching out to minorities. The Democratic Party is made up of minorities – whether that relates to color, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or anything else. It is time for “us” to stop thinking of “us” as white able-bodied men who have to reach out to “them,” which is the rest of us. Just look at the delegates to the Democratic Convention and you will see how far the Party has come since 1964, when the Mississippi Freedom Democrats, black voices fighting Jim Crow in politics, was refused seating at the Democratic National Convention. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, won by Democrat Lyndon Johnson, was a moment of realignment of the political parties, and the rest is a hard-fought history. At this year’s Democratic Convention, the theme of Stronger Together resonated because it was backed up by the visual representation that the Democratic Party is a party that actually reflects the diversity of our population. And the more the Party actually represents the diversity of our population, united around an agenda that cares for all, the more the party personifies America.
5. To Conclude — & This Is Not Nonsense
The Democratic Party has a unique opportunity to promote the Inner Revolution, the revolution that begins with all of us working hard to live Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support. The only opponent of the Inner Revolution is not the Republican Party, but the ego itself, which believes in separation and self-interest. Its only opponent is the ego in any and all parties that tries to divide us from our natural connection and that encourages us to ignore our accountability for the way we treat ourselves, one another and the very planet. Its only opponent is the ego, which tries to divert us from the reality that we can only truly thrive in a thriving whole, where each one of us is a part of the synergy that makes the world work.
The Inner Revolution seems to be happening in front of our eyes, with families of those killed by the police standing up against the killings of police and police standing up for the proposition that blacks lives matter; with all of us standing up for Muslims and with Muslims standing up for our Constitution. We have a lot more to do to include the disenfranchised, to rewrite the economic game and support all of us who are suffering from the violence, competitiveness and alienation from which we all suffer. But we have come a long way. And let’s each of us continue to do our part and help that Inner Revolution spread and deepen throughout our world. That would make us a true world leader.
Beth Green is founder of TheInnerRevolution.Org, host of Inner Revolutionary Radio on VoiceAmerica.com and creator of Beth Green TV & Radio on YouTube. You can download a free version of Bethâs book Living with Reality atwww.theinnerrevolution.org. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter where weâre building an online community of people who are fighting for a revolution toward Oneness, Accountability and Mutual Support.
