by Jacqueline Stoughton
The Socialist Action and Youth for Socialist Action groups got together last month to advocate for socialism voters on the Central Connecticut campus, in hopes that students would vote for Bernie Sanders at the Connecticut primary elections later this month.
Five speakers took the podium and preached to a room full of students and community members as to why they believe in the socialist movement, as well as to why they’re putting their support behind Sanders as their presidential nominee.
“I don’t consider myself a socialist. But creating change should be done by any means necessary that makes sense and achieves change from within our team,” said Dan Dorso, Bernie for Connecticut team leader. “Our team is convinced that there will be a movement after if he [Sanders] loses.”
All the presenters made similar points as to why they believe Sanders is the best chance for the future of this country. Dorso explained redistributing the wealth throughout this country is a must – Sanders being the only candidate capable of doing so.
“He [Sanders] wants to build a wall too. A wall against racism,” said Dorso. “We believe we can make a difference.”
Through a video conference call, Eugene Paryear, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation Connecticut, explained the GOP is beginning to disintegrate, which will cause an uprising of the youth in this country.
“Millennials are accepting socialism as a legitimate party,” said Paryear. “All of these donors are putting their money behind a movement that is significant.”
Paryear expressed uncertainty whether or not these socialist reforms will work, but still remained confident that they’re worth trying and supporting in this years election.
“We need to go out and be bold and restore the left ideas,” said Paryear. “We need solutions that meet the scale of the problem when we talk about socialism. We don’t want to lose this opportunity.”
Sanders is still trailing behind Hillary Clinton for delegate votes. According to AP, Sanders has 980 pledged delegates and 31 Superdelegates giving him a total of 1,011, compared to Clinton’s 1,712-delegate lead. There are still 2,042 left to claim, in order to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
“We’re living in the most productive time. Tax breaks only help the one percent,” said Dan Kiely, member of the Socialist Party for Soltysik/Walker. “The rich own everything. We need to start a movement and join an organization.”