Why I am Voting for Bernie Sanders Today

Hola mi Gente,

I don’t vote. Period. I have my reasons. For one, I refuse to indulge a process that has been rigged for almost as long as elections have been going on. I also believe both parties are like to two dogs shackled to the same stake -- the stake being capitalism.

But today I am making an exception and casting a vote for Bernie Sanders and here’s why…

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La Bandera at a South Bronx Sanders Rally

Why I am Voting for Bernie Sanders

I’m not voting against someone, I’m choosing to vote for someone.

 -- Rosario Dawson, actor and activist

There are two incidents that sand out for me when I think of casting my vote today in the democratic primary of New York. One was when Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists at a Sanders rally bum-rushed the stage and took the microphone from Sanders in order to air their grievances. Many white Sanders supporters at the time were visibly upset and many more took to social media to parade their racism. But what really got my attention was Sanders’ willingness to engage the BLM movement and how he not only incorporated the movement’s platform into his own, but also hired some BLM activists to work on his campaign.

The second incident was when, during a debate in Brooklyn, Sanders refused to back down from his criticism of Israeli apartheid in Palestine. Right then, I turned to my friend and said, “Bernie just blew New York.” No other politician in my memory has ever had the cojones to stand up and speak truth to power when it comes to the Israel/ Palestine quagmire and live to tell the story.

Both these incidents highlight for me what I believe is Sanders greatest asset: his honesty. Sanders is a politician who actually believes what he preaches and has been a consistent voice for the past 35 years. Unlike his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Sanders has been on the right side of history from his time doing civil rights work to voting against the Iraq War, to his opposition to rule by the financial elites -- the 1%.

I am voting for Bernie Sanders today because I am not a super-predator, nor are the children from my community. Sanders may have voted for the Clinton crime bill, but it’s a lot more complicated than that. Sanders voted for the crime bill, largely because it included some provisions that he strongly approved of, such as the Violence Against Women Act and a 10-year assault weapons ban. 

I am voting for Bernie Sanders because he is the only candidate that has a coherent and well thought-ot economic plan to help Puerto Rico out of its financial crisis. 

But in other instances, Sanders voted against tough-on-crime measures. He voted against the 1991 crime bill. He voted against banning Pell grants (for college) for people who are incarcerated. He voted to amend the 1994 crime law to ban the federal death penalty. And he voted against the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which stripped defendants and incarcerated persons of their ability to contest court rulings -- even when the rulings may be unconstitutional.

Historically his opponent, Hillary Clinton, has been much tougher and more punitive on crime. Clinton also talked up the 1994 crime law before it passed and it wasn't until last year that she acknowledged that the 1994 crime law went too far. As recently as 2008, Clinton's campaign aides played the “soft on crime” card against then–presidential candidate Barack Obama by saying he's too liberal and out of touch for opposing mandatory minimum sentences. She also, until very recently, continued to receive funding from the private prison industry.

I am voting for Bernie Sanders today because the evidence for the efficacy of single payer health has been proven again and again. That establishment pundits and politicians have tried to discredit Sanders’ health plan, the consensus of experts in the field say otherwise. Sanders’ single payer plan will save billions and, more importantly, countless lives.

I am voting for Bernie Sanders today because my personal experiences and research has shown me that quality education is the very practice of freedom. Sanders has a plan that shifts economic priorities from eternal war to building up our society. The fact is that the math is clear: free 4-year college for every American would only cost taxpayers 70 cents a day.

I could go on and on: Sanders’ economic plan, vetted by none other than distinguished economist who’s a Clinton Supporter, showed that Sander’s Keynesian approach would result in economic growth that hasn’t been seen in over 50 years. Of course, this economist was attacked, but no credible economist has run the numbers and published a finding that was contrary to Sanders’ claims. This who have, have either fudged the numbers or omitted crucial parts of his economic plan.

But what bothers me the most is this notion that we progressives must relinquish our principles. The Clintons and their supporters consistently demonstrate contempt for people who would build a movement. The Clinton campaign is basically a “No we can’t!” campaign. We can’t demand fairness or healthcare as a universal right. We can’t demand an economy that works for all of us rather than the richest 1%. We can’t. We can’t. We can’t. 

Well, I’m saying that not only can we, we must demand fairness and equality or we will be doomed. As it is, people who study such things are saying the US is no longer a democracy but an oligarchy. I refuse to submit to that form of nihilism. How long will we continue to be content for voting for the evil of two lessers?

I say we stop now and that’s why I am voting for Sanders today.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

Hillary Clinton and Social Proof

Hola mi Gente,
Yesterday, I came across the following headline:

More than 2 MILLION of Hillary Clinton's Twitter followers are fake or never tweet -- and she's already under fire for “buying” fake Facebook fans

The article went on to document how two different online audit tools show that no more than 44% of Hillary's 3.6 million Twitter fans are real people who participate in the platform. In addition, the presidential candidate is fending off accusations that her Facebook page is full of fake “likes” and that her Facebook fan base includes more people from Baghdad, Iraq than any US city. When she was secretary of state, the article states, her agency paid $630,000 to bulk up its Facebook likes, but pledged to stop after she left.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the neoliberal politician's career and her tendency toward fabrication (see here). What is interesting here is Hillary’s use of the marketing strategy of social proof in order to dupe the electorate... 

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Social Proof & the Myth of the Cold Society

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.

-- Walter Lippman

There is a powerful weapon of influence called social proof. The principle of social proof (sometimes called the bystander effect) is that one way we determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct. This principle applies especially to the way we decide what makes up correct behavior. We view a behavior more correct to the degree that we see others performing it. Whether the issue is what to do with a piece of garbage, how fast to drive on a highway, how to use a utensil at a formal dinner party, or even what to buy, the actions of those around us will be important in determining our behavior.

 Of course, in the internet world, we’re all free thinkers and the principle of social proof doesn’t apply to you. Hold on, I need to sneeze… 

ACHOOOOBULLSHIT!

Thank you.

Where was I? Yes, social proof.

Perhaps you’ve waited on a long line to see a movie? Or maybe you came upon a crowd looking up toward the sky. You looked up too, right? Part of it was curiosity, but you did that mostly because of the principle of social proof. The tendency to see an action as more appropriate when others are doing it is quite normal and it often serves a good purpose. As a rule, we make fewer mistakes when acting in agreement with evidence than when we act contrary to it. Usually, when many people are doing something, it is the right thing to do. However, this is both a strength and a weakness. While social proof offers a shortcut for determining correct behavior, at the same time it makes us vulnerable to those who would exploit it for profit or evil.

Our tendency to see an action more appropriate if others are doing it is exploited in a number of settings. Bartenders often “prime” their tip jars with a few dollars bills to give the impression of tips left by previous customers. Church ushers do the same with their collection baskets. Evangelical preachers are known to seed their audience with co-conspirators who are rehearsed to come at a specific time to give witness and donations. In one interesting experiment, several researchers infiltrated crusader Billy Graham’s organization and reported on such tactics. “By the time Graham arrives in town and makes his altar call, an army of six thousand wait with instructions on when to come forward to create the impression of a spontaneous mass outpouring.”

Advertisers love to tell us their product is the “fastest-growing” or “largest-selling” because they don’t have to convince us directly about the worth of their product.

However, principles of influence and persuasion work best under certain conditions. Social proof works best at a time of uncertainty, when we are unsure of ourselves, when the situation is unclear. It is during these times that we rely more on others and see their reactions as correct. But in relying on examining the reactions of others, we overlook one simple fact: that those people are probably looking for social evidence also. This phenomenon helps to explain what has been called a national disgrace: the failure of entire groups of bystanders to aid victims in excruciating need of help.

Nowhere is this better illustrated as in the case of the murder Catherine Genovese in March 1964. The details of Ms. Genovese’s death are gruesome and beg an explanation. Catherine Genovese, known to her friends and family as Kitty, had not experienced a quick, muted death. It had been a long, loud, tortured, public event. According to reports of her death at the time, her assailant had chased and attacked her in the street three times over a thirty-five minute period before his knife finally silenced her cries for help. Unbelievably, thirty-eight of her neighbors watched the events of her death unfold from the safety of their apartment windows without so much as lifting a finger to call the police. (Years later, studies showed that many of the newspaper accounts wildly exaggerated the incident. Neighbors did try to help and one even cradled Kitty Genovese in her arms -- at great personal risk -- as she lay dying, for example).

The series of stories that arose from this incident shocked a nation. Eventually, the horrific slaying of Catherine Genovese would come to symbolize both an uncaring an apathetic New York City and our society in general. How could thirty-eight “good people” fail to act under those circumstances? No one could understand it. Even the witnesses themselves were confused. “I don’t know,” they answered. “I just don’t know.” A few offered weak excuses, explaining that they were “afraid” or “did not want to get involved.” But these reasons don’t stand scrutiny. An anonymous call could have saved Catherine Genovese without putting the witness in danger. It wasn’t fear or apathy that was at work, there was something else going on that even they could not understand.

But confusion doesn’t sell newspapers or TV commercials, so the media emphasized the only explanation available at the time: the witnesses, no different from many of us, hadn’t cared enough to get involved. We had become a nation of selfish insensitive people. Modern life, especially life in New York City, had hardened us. We were becoming “The Cold Society,” unfeeling, and indifferent to the suffering of others.

The Genovese story grew. In addition to a book by A.M. Rosenthal, it also became the focus of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, several TV documentaries, and even an Off-Broadway play. It also attracted the interest of two new York-based social psychologists, Bibb Latane and John Darley and they came up with the most unlikely explanation of all -- it was that thirty-eight witnesses were present. In contrast to earlier reports emphasizing that no action was taken, even though thirty-eight witnesses had looked on, Latane and Darley suggested that no one had helped precisely because there were so many observers.

They offered two interesting reasons for why a bystander would not respond to an emergency when there are other bystanders present. The first reason is fairly intuitive. With several potential helpers around, the personal responsibility of each individual is lessened: “Perhaps someone else will give a call for help, perhaps someone already has.” So with everyone thinking someone else will help, no one does.

The second reason is more interesting, it is founded on the principle of social proof. Very often an emergency is not obviously an emergency. Is the man lying in the alley a heart-attack victim or a drunk sleeping it off? Are the sharp sounds from the street gunshots or a truck backfiring? Is the argument next door an assault needing a call to the police or an especially loud marital spat where intervention would be inappropriate and uncalled for? What is going on?

In times of uncertainty, the natural tendency is to look around at the actions of others for cues for appropriate behavior. We try to surmise, from the reactions of others whether the event is an emergency. What is easy to forget is that everybody else observing the event is likely to be looking for social proof too. Therefore, everybody is likely to see everyone else looking unruffled and failing to act. By the principle of social proof, the event will be interpreted as a non-emergency. This state of collective non-action, called pluralistic ignorance by social psychologists, is a state “in which each person decides that since nobody is concerned, nothing is wrong. Meanwhile, the danger may be mounting to the point where a single individual, influenced by the seeming calm of others, would react.”

The upshot of Latane’s and Darly’s research is that someone in need of aid stands a better chance of survival if a single bystander, rather than a crowd, is present. To test this unusual supposition, Darley, Latane, and some of their students performed a series of research that produced clear findings. The basic set up was to stage emergency events that were observed either by a single individual or by a group of people. They then recorded the number of times the emergency victim received help.

In the first experiment, a New York college student who appeared to be having an epileptic seizure received help 85 per cent of the time when there was a single bystander present but only 31 per cent of the time with five bystanders present.

After more than decades of subsequent research the overly simplistic argument that ours is “The cold society” where no one cares for suffering others is difficult to maintain -- at least if you’re an intelligent person.

First, once witnesses are convinced that emergency exists, aid is very likely. Under these conditions, the numbers of bystanders who either get involved or call for help is clearly very high. The situation becomes different when, as in many cases, bystanders cannot be sure that the event they are witnessing is an emergency. The fact is that the same circumstances that reduce the chances of aid exist in city life. However, it doesn’t follow that we have become a nation of callous, unfeeling people.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…