Inspiration for the day: Killer Mike and Bernie Sanders

A great late-night YouTube find: Killer Mike of Run The Jewels talks to Bernie Sanders about politics, social justice, inequality.

The six-parter starts here:

My favourite quote, from part 2:

“I didn’t get in to politics because I wanted to figure out how to become President or a Senator. I got into politics because I gave a damn.”

Bernie Sanders may not get the Democratic nomination, much less the US presidency – we can dream – but it’s incredibly heartening having someone making these kind of statements from a large platform.

The usual smear against Sanders is he’s “extreme” or “hard left”. But if you listen to what he’s saying, there’s nothing radical about it at all. There’s a problem, especially in the US, with big business buying elections. There’s a problem with people feeling disenfranchised from their own democracy. It’s ridiculous that workers are producing more and being paid less. And these things are all connected. Education, healthcare, support for people in vulnerable situations – these are all good things that build a happier community and a stronger society.

None of this is really debatable (unless your response is “there’s nothing wrong with kids going to school hungry, it’s an incentive to work!”). But damn is it threatening to the powers that be.

And here’s my favourite track from Run The Jewels 2. Content note: language NSFW, police violence.