Green New Deal in Montpelier, Vermont
Lovely scenery, horrible political scene
After some rough Lake Champlain weather (whose high winds and whitecaps dissuaded us from taking the ferry out of Plattsburgh), we made a pleasant landing in Bernie Sanders’ backyard.
After a wonderful day touring Burlington, we headed east towards Maine and stopped over in Montpelier, the State Capitol. Lots of favorable glances from those who passed by.
The yellow lettering on the road in the foreground spells out “BLACK LIVES MATTER”.
Meanwhile, as we expected, Bernie sold out the Green New Deal and Medicare For All by supporting the Biden “Task Force” Report recommendations:
The task force recommendations don’t include the kind of wide-scale systemic upheaval that won Sanders such a fervent following in his two presidential campaigns — while provoking an outcry from moderate Democrats and Republicans alike. A single-payer health care system such as “Medicare for All,” a “Green New Deal” overhauling environmental policy, and doing away with Immigration and Customs Enforcement are not among the policy proposals.
I wonder how the kids at the Sunrise Movement feel right now – we tried to warn them. It sure looks like Varshini is varnishing the truth.
It’s a lot easier to advocate for an identitarian cultural agenda than to deal with political economy, capitalism, and corporate power. Nancy Fraser’s powerful “Progressive Neoliberalism” analysis still holds.
We head for the woods of Maine.
[End Note: glad I’m not on the west coast this summer, for surely I’d be in Portland, Oregon and in serious trouble.]
