What can we learn from Bernie Sanders’ 1970s-Era Essays

Contact Your Elected Officials

Editor’s note: Sen. Bernie Sanders jumped into the crowded 2020 race. This story was published during his first presidential bid. Click here for more Sanders stories from Mother Jones’ archives.

Last month Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent socialist seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, repudiated a 1972 essay he wrote for the Vermont Freeman, an alternative newspaper, which included depictions of a rape fantasy from male and female perspectives. On Meet the Press, he dismissed the article as a “piece of fiction” exploring gender stereotypes—”something like Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Yet as the New York Times recently reported, during his years as a contributor to the Freeman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sanders often wrote about sexual norms, as he presented a broader critique of repressive cultural forces that he believed were driving many Americans literally insane. His early writings reflect a political worldview rooted in the fad psychology and anti-capitalist rhetoric of the era and infused with a libertarianesque critique of state power. Sanders feared that the erosion of individual freedom—via compulsory education, sexual repression, and, yes, fluoridated water—began at birth. And, he postulated, authoritarianism might even cause cancer.

Yet he insisted that individual acts of protests could turn things around—a belief that would give rise to his political career.

Sanders was initially drawn to Sigmund Freud and his theories as a high school student in Brooklyn. He then studied psychology at the University of Chicago and at the New School for Social Research in New York. And he worked at a mental institution in New York City before settling in Vermont for good in 1968. Like many lefties of his time, he was heavily influenced by the Austrian psychologist Wilhelm Reich, a disciple of Freud whose work drew a connection between sexual repression and fascism. When Paris student demonstrators took the street in that year, they held up copies of Reich’s book.

Reich’s most famous invention was a product called the “Orgone Box,” a sort of hyperbaric oxygen chamber for orgasms. The device was supposed to expose users to “orgastic” energy circulating in the air. Such exposure, Reich theorized, could cure various maladies, including cancer.

Read Full Article by Tim Murry

The Thinking Conservative
The Thinking Conservativehttps://www.thethinkingconservative.com/
The goal of THE THINKING CONSERVATIVE is to help us educate ourselves on conservative topics of importance to our freedom and our pursuit of happiness. We do this by sharing conservative opinions on all kinds of subjects, from all types of people, and all kinds of media, in a way that will challenge our perceptions and help us to make educated choices.

Donald Trump’s Appointments Are Being Obstructed

Donald Trump is the only President in history that has had recess appointments blocked by his own party!

Trump Flag-Burning Ban: Unconstitutional, Un-American, and Trifling

Trump signed an EO to criminalize the burning of the American flag — the right to do which having already been adjudicated by the highest court in the land.

Using True Facts of History to Determine What is Right and What is Wrong

The amount of time separating a human act from a truthful description of it is not as important as the veracity of historians bringing it to light.

The Very British Stalemate: British Politics Explained for Americans

The assumption in the minds of American commentators, politicians, and analysts is that the UK has "gone to the dogs" with "woke" political ideology.

NFL Vikings Male Cheerleader Controversy  

The NFL under the leadership of Roger Goodell is back to yet another controversy that is causing backlash and a possible boycott.

HHS Threatens to Cut Funds for 46 States Over Gender Ideology in School Curricula

HHS ordered 46 U.S. states and territories to remove all educational references to gender ideology from federally funded school grant programs within 60 days.

Interior Department Plans to Revoke Permit for $11 Billion Maryland Offshore Wind Farm

The Trump administration is preparing to revoke a Biden-era permit for an $11.5 billion offshore wind farm planned off the coast of Maryland.

Kraft, Coca-Cola Defeat Lawsuit Over Ultra-Processed Foods

Judge dismissed lawsuit against major food and beverage manufacturers, ruling teenager who sued did not meet evidentiary standards for suit to proceed.

Judge Dismisses Trump Admin Lawsuit Against Federal Court in Maryland

Trump admin lost lawsuit against federal court in Maryland that's automatically blocking deportations for illegals who challenged their detention by fed govt.

FDA Ramps Up Inspections of Shrimp Amid Radioactive Contamination Reports, RFK Jr. Confirms

Health Sec RFK, Jr. said federal health authorities are looking at imported shrimp after FDA issued warnings after potentially radioactive shrimp.

Commerce Secretary Says Pentagon Weighing Equity Stakes in Defense Contractors

DOD is weighing taking equity stakes in defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and others, Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick said in an interview.

Here’s What Major American Retailers Are Saying About Tariff Impacts

American retailers are doing what they can to keep tariffs from affecting consumers, but they acknowledge that eventually something has got to give.

Trump Threatens Tariffs for Nations With Digital Taxes on US Tech

The president said other countries’ digital taxes and regulations were ‘all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology.’
spot_img

Related Articles