Should the World #FeelTheBern?

Photo: AFP

The results from the Nevada caucus are in and it is now turning out to be a historic race for the Presidential nominee for both the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States of America. Seldom a place to throw many surprises, the race to be the nominee is turning out to be something out of a terrible nightmare for some people. Bernie Sanders is now tied at 51 delegates with the party favourite Hillary Clinton, a nightmare for those who were sure of perpetuating the Clinton dynasty at the White House. For a long time before heavy campaigning really got under way, a Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton battle seemed a sure thing for many in the political quarter. However, two mavericks have completely shaken up the landscape- the outspoken and follicle-y challenged Bernie Sanders and the cartoonish and equally follicle-y challenged Donald Trump.

Now, it would be reasonable to question why exactly someone in Bangladesh should be remotely interested in the going-on in the Land of the Free. For one, it's fun. It's a nice time to point and laugh at those who would profess a pro-American philosophy or would venture forth an opinion that places our white benefactors on a higher pedestal. Half of these people are rooting for Donald Trump, who is everyone's worst nightmare and whose policies themselves have the complexity of a teaspoon. With a nuanced rhetoric including sophisticated lines such as 'Total liar', 'We have to build a wall', and 'China China China', Donald Trump represents the racist and imperialistic subconscious of the white underbelly of the United States. The good, white people of America have finally grown tired of pretending to espouse liberal rhetoric and tip-toeing around polite speech. In some ways, Donald Trump represents the salt of America's earth- forever white and built upon a history of exploitation. That those on the conservative side have elected him to be their spirit animal is appropriate. It should be noted, however, that Hillary Clinton is the face of the pretense that so many have dropped in support of Trump. She is the embodiment of the benevolent mask of American politics bereft of a conscience. Her place in the good books of the establishment and Wall Street are only different from Donald Trump in so far as he is truthful about what he really thinks.

Secondly, entertainment aside, the race holds real world implications for us that will reverberate through our socio-political fabric. The less said about a Trump win, the better. If Hillary wins, our political class will once again be nervously looking over their shoulder because of the favourable Hillary-Yunus ties. Hillary has changed her stance on a Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership and is now opposed to it. However, if she does change colours yet again, she will stand to not only significantly stunt the Bangladeshi economy, she will also destroy the working class populations of several other countries, including her own.

Is Bernie Sanders, then, the best of the bunch? Definitely, in terms of what the American people really need right now. Not so much, in terms of the rest of the world. An America under Sanders will no doubt be a better place for its inhabitants- income inequality might decrease, healthcare might just become affordable and 18 year olds might just not be asked to take on a quarter million dollar debtload just to get a degree. But is this America also going to be one that repents for the number of bodies it has dropped all over the world, for the complete and utter destabilization of the Middle East and for continuing to support the world's most blatant instance of apartheid today (Hint: Israel)? The answer to that is no. Bernie Sanders has remained tight-lipped on his stance on Israel while the bombs keep dropping in Gaza. He has also remained problematically ambiguous on foreign policy, although he must be commended for denouncing that murderer Henry Kissinger. But will there really be a positive effect for countries like ourselves in the Third World? Our labour will possibly continue to be exploited, and our resources taken away from us as an America that earns more proportionally will demand more clothes and more energy. The jury is out on whether or not Sanders really cares about the global political landscape or if he is just a return to American exclusivism, under the rubric of Democratic Socialism (a far from accurate term to describe his politics). Whatever the outcome of a Sanders presidency, it will be a damn sight better than another Clinton in the office. Unless Trump wins. In which case, we should really look into building nuclear bunkers under our homes.