Socialism is having a moment. Bernie Sanders has been the first credible socialist U.S. presidential candidate since Eugene V. Debs. A generation of Americans is waking up to the fact that the whole system is rigged to screw them out of money and power. And yet, this neosocialism is different from the old paleosocialism we learned to fear in grade school. For May Day, the day of the worker that is not Labor Day, we have created a list of what's so hot right now in proletarian spring fashion.
Face of the Movement
OUT: Che
IN: Bernie
Headgear
OUT: Berets
IN: Big furry Russian hats
Charismatic Socialist Leader of an Emerging American Nation
OUT: Hugo Chavez of Venezuela
IN: Justin Trudeau of Canada
Literary Foundation
OUT: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
IN: The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class by Bernie Sanders
Propaganda Tool
OUT: Graffiti
IN: Facebook meme
Symbolic City
OUT: Detroit
IN: Detroit
Greatest Insult
OUT: Pinko!
IN: #BernieBro!
Pre-Eminent Spokesperson
OUT: Leon Trotsky, people's commissar of military and naval affairs
IN: H.A. Goodman, unpaid columnist for Salon.com
Slight Embarrassment
OUT: North Korean cult of personality
IN: Vermont's $9.60 minimum wage
Bad Guys
OUT: Pinkertons
IN: Superdelegates
May Day Celebration
OUT: International Workers' Day rally at Shemanski Park, Southwest Park Avenue and Salmon Street. Noon-4 pm Sunday, May 1. Free.
IN: Bloody Mary "Bloc Party" beginning at Kachka, 720 SE Grand Ave., kachkapdx.com. 11 am-2 pm Sunday, May 1. $30 for five bloody marys and five breakfast bites at bars along Southeast Grand Avenue. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
Willamette Week