Living in the basement: 'Clinton disconnected from youth issue of joblessness'

Clinton seems to imply there is a moral deficiency with these young people, some of whom are still living with their parents, as opposed to the inability of the system to provide them viable employment, Ajamu Baraka, Green Party nominee for Vice President.

The conservative website, Washington Free Beacon, posted on Friday Hillary Clinton’s candid statements on Bernie Sanders’ supporters made during a private meeting with fundraisers. 

In leaked audio, the Democratic presidential nominee said that his supporters were lured by "false promise" and, moreover, called them people who "are living in their parents' basement."

RT: What’s your take on Clinton’s recent comments?

Ajamu Baraka: I think her comments represent a real disconnection from the reality that many young people in this country are living – young people and people who supported Bernie Sanders, who were concerned and are concerned about the plight of the economy and what kind of solutions we need to put in place to address the issue of joblessness and the lack of opportunities for people who are coming out of college. She seems to imply that there is more of a moral deficiency with these young people as opposed to the inability of the system to provide them viable employment. So her attitude seems not only dismissive, but reflects her ideological connection, ideological commitment to solutions that are not going to objectively address the issues that these young people face.

RT: Do you think her comments show lack of understanding and some kind of remoteness from common American citizens, especially young ones?

AB: Exactly. Her inability to understand that for there to be a viable democracy, you have to bring in young people, people who are committed to making the institutions of this country work. It shows that her real commitment is to the status quo. Her attempt to try to presume herself as a progressive, I think those transcripts clearly indicate that is not the case; that this is just pure campaign rhetoric; that she is committed to status quo politics, committed to status quo economic solutions, and that the kind of programs and policies represented by the Sanders campaign that she appears or pretends to embrace is merely just political posturing and political opportunism.

RT: Which presidential candidate do you think should Sanders’ supporters support now? What is the right direction for them, as Sanders is out of the race now?

AB: Unfortunately I think that Sanders has committed himself to supporting Clinton. What has to happen – that more and more of his supporters have to come to the conclusion that, as Jill Stein has said more than on one occasion, “You can’t have revolutionary politics within a counter-revolutionary party.” So that the only direction they can go, the only place that they can end up that is safe for them, that has potential, is in fact with the Green Party, not the Libertarians.

The Libertarians have a different kind of idealism. They believe that the market is going to provide the magic, the magical solution to all of the problems that the US faces. The only place that you can go for progressive policies, for program, for the future is the Green Party. More and more of them are understanding that… her concern with young people is a legitimate concern, because they see through her. Her comments indicate that she has no understanding of the real anxiety and the real commitment that many young people in the US have for real fundamental change…