Being A Purist

Now that the battle has begun for supremacy in the Democratic race, the belittlement of the “purists” has begun. Again. Only this time, the ones doing most of the attacking are the alleged Party “Progressives”.

Funny thing. In 2016, the ones supporting Bernie were attacked as “purists” by the Establishment DNC cultists. Now it is largely Bernie followers attacking us. Though it can also be Tulsi followers. And they are attacking each other.

So what does it mean to be a Purist? It means we see certain issues as non-negotiable. It means we reject incremental change. It means we understand that without radical change now that we are doomed. As a nation, possibly as a species. Do we expect everything that we push for to come to pass? No, we’re not children and we know what world we are living in. However, we expect a candidate who claims to be Progressive to raise the issues that we endorse and stand by those issues, stand by us. Not turn their backs for political expediency. Not vowing fealty to a party that has shown consistently that they have no interest in what is best for the people.

Stand your ground. Being a purist means standing your ground. It means we, ourselves must be loyal to our values. If we are not loyal to our values, how do we expect elected officials to not discard what some among us are too willing to throw away? When we throw our values under the bus, we throw ourselves under the bus right along with those values. We cannot abandon ourselves and expect better.