Why the Corbyn/Sanders vision is a turning point in left-wing politics
The hard-left enclaves of both the Labour party here in the U.K and the Democratic party in the U.S have enjoyed significant support in recent times. The change in hard-left popularity has exemplified due to two men at the forefront; Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. With far-right politics becoming mainstream, these two figures are pioneers in elevating leftist ideals in recent years.
It is undeniable that British and American politics are facing utterly polarising periods in their branches of government. The British government are currently mired in a scandal over Brexit and what their future relationship with the EU entails, whilst the U.S are facing an indecorous crisis with a politically and morally void president in Donald Trump. Whilst their respective hardcore conservative leadership faces scrutiny, successful grassroots campaigns from the left are keen to usurp them.
The left-wing Labour party in the U.K have a self-proclaiming socialist as their spokesperson. Corbyn, a loved or loathed politician, has faced excoriation from opponents in and outside his own party. His campaign has gained momentum by putting socialist policies as its focus. He believes the only way to overthrow a poverty-stricken Britain is to allow a radical overhaul and redistribution of wealth across the country. He has voiced his support for affordable transport, an influx of new social housing and a green new deal that could alleviate global warming by creating a whole sector of new jobs. The sheer scepticism in voting for Corbyn comes from his foreign policy background, especially his isolationist and anti-war rhetoric. Within a country that trades arms with Middle East warmongers, Corbyn doesn’t fit the mould as a pro-Palestinian activist who is keen to transform how we resolve world crises. Whilst he is attacked continuously by the right-wing media, his consistency and fervent campaigns mean the cabal of Corbynites surrounding him becomes stronger. In the last election cycle, Corbyn achieved the largest voter share for the Labour party since 1945, which stripped the Conservative party from their majority in parliament. His popularity and condemnation have propelled him to be a leading but controversial figure in U.K politics.
Corbyn has a friend in staunch socialist ideologue and U.S Congress veteran, Bernie Sanders. Like himself, Sanders has expressed a desire to transform the U.S economy through taxation. He has been inspired by the universal healthcare system of the U.K to mobilise support for an equivalent in his homeland. With a pledge to adopt a $15 minimum federal wage for workers and unionise those in a low-skilled workforce, he has become a trailblazer in America’s frustrated underclass. Sanders has become an independent political underdog to a Democrat who was neck and neck with Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary. Sanders has also consistently proposed a pragmatic foreign policy tone, transcending the traditional interventionist strategy America has vociferously upheld. He has been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause by accepting that Israeli military aggression is a direct subjugation of the region’s Arab demographic.
He is now bidding for the nomination again in 2020 to battle Trump in what is set to be a contemptuous election. Corbyn and Sanders have formally endorsed each other in the past. The Corbyn-affiliated pressure group, Momentum, strive to be like the ambitious grassroots supporters of Sanders. With democratic socialism becoming the trend in left-wing politics, the likes of Sanders and Corbyn could be proponents of a cross-Atlantic socialist alliance.
The two are both loathed by the establishment and its apologetic media, and have garnered tremendous rebukes from their party peers. What doesn’t go unnoticed, however, is the outpouring of support they receive from young voters and people who are desperate for a new direction away from political turmoil. The notion of Brexit and Trump has catapulted the U.S and U.K into disarray. Adopting a socialist plan to counteract a further shift to the right would help alleviate the pressures of the working class. With Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn and their hard-line supporters willing to do just that, a new attitude towards governing is forming.
