Now is our time to produce positive change. Now is the time to reunite the old Democratic Party coalition of minorities, white progressives, and the working class in order to equalize the opportunities of those living here in Marin. To do this, vote for Dan Monte on June 5 and Nov. 6.

In Marin we pride ourselves as being progressive; we’re on the right side of history and have the moral high ground; we make fun of every Trump tweet. We pat ourselves on the back for being liberal heroes who save the world, but we aren’t.

Marin residents will vote in favor of poor people but don’t want to live near them. They will vote in favor of public schools but then support the Ross Valley Charter if it benefits them.

Hypocrisy is rampant in Marin and threatens the well being of the remaining working class families of Marin, while the rich, trust-funded wealthy continue to prosper.

The golden age of the Democratic Party in the 1930s and 1960s was paved by collective efforts to help those in need, whether that meant minorities or the poor. In Marin today, people who call themselves Democrats ignore this vision. They turn away those in our society that need help the most with the goal to pursue yet more wealth for themselves.

These people support the policies of Bill Clinton and more recently Hillary Clinton has supported this ideology. The neoliberals, or “new liberals” support survival-of-the-fittest capitalism and cutting back on government programs.

By supporting the neoliberal agenda and then calling yourself liberal, you are lying and pretending to support something that you don’t.

It is one thing to get worked up and angry about the status quo but it is useless until we do something about it. If we want to create change, we need to vote and decide who our policymakers will be. Our current Assembly Member representing us in Sacramento is Mark Levine, a neoliberal that supports the status quo.

If you want to change things, you should vote for Dan Monte, Levine’s opposition, a progressive force like Bernie Sanders in 2016. Monte is endorsed by Our Revolution, the organization that Sanders helped create to help promote progressive, grassroots candidates across the country. Monte is pro universal health care, pro regulating carbon emissions, and has refused a single donation from corporations.

The status quo is seeing the stock market reach record highs for the rich and struggling incomes for everyone else. According to CNN on May 18, 43 percent of the employed middle class can’t afford basic living standards including housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and a cell phone. This is beyond unacceptable.

That is what the status quo entails and neoliberals wish to continue it because it benefits themselves, even if 51 million people in the middle class are struggling to survive. This is a hypocritical, neoliberal problem.

An excellent example of this hypocrisy is the Ross Valley Charter School. Marin neoliberals wouldn’t support the charter school if the phrase “conservative” was slapped onto it.

But after realizing that their children will benefit at the expense of White Hill students, the neoliberals will change their mind and fully support the idea, even if the White Hill students now face cramped and fewer classrooms.

If you want to open up your charter school while having your community’s support, then more power to you. But if you are taking over half of an existing public school while not having the local community’s support, then you shouldn’t be allowed to screw over the now cramped public school.

Another example is the housing crisis. According to The Mercury News, from 2000 to 2015, California has seen 800,000 residents near or below the poverty line leave the state.

As the rich are getting richer, spurred on by Trump tax cuts, the working class has been betrayed, left on the sidelines and simply told to catch up, despite the massive societal obstacles of today that the rich don’t experience.

The wealthy, white, progressive base of the Democratic Party has moved away from the working class enough that someone like Donald Trump won. They ignored the working class of the Rust Belt, which was pivotal to the election. By ignoring the working class, the Democratic Party is not going to win presidential elections.

A neoliberal is someone who supports policies like decreasing the support of social policies while cutting taxes. They disguise themselves as liberals but do not be fooled, they are most definitely on the right. It is time to turn toward the original Democratic coalition and save the working class by remaining on the left.