Techies for Bernie: why some best-paid workers are supporting a socialist

Bernie Sanders is seeing a surge of support from well-off, leftwing staff at tech firms such as Apple and Google. Is it because they can see the game is rigged?

For the first time in a long time, it’s fun to be a member of the American left. A socialist is within spitting distance of the White House. Bernie Sanders may not win the nomination, but his extraordinary primary run has proven the mainstream viability of leftwing politics in a country that’s spent decades drifting to the right.

The core pieces of the coalition that’s made his achievement possible are well-known from exit polls: millennials, lower-income Americans, and independents. But Bernie’s also benefited from another, more surprising bloc of support, one that may prove just as important to the future of American leftism: tech workers.

According to analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings by the Center for Responsive Politics, four of the top five employers of Sanders donors are tech companies. Google is number one, its employees having contributed more than $200,000. Microsoft, Apple and Amazon occupy the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has no tech companies in her top five, and only one in her top 20.

Sanders also appears to be receiving far more individual contributions from tech workers than Clinton. A software engineer and Sanders supporter named Bill Schaller used the FEC filings to produce a pair of pie charts that break both sets of contributors down by occupation. Technology and education are the leading fields among Sanders donors, while Clinton’s are legal and retirees.

Momentum behind Sanders in tech is growing. Cont'd >>>
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/18/bernie-sanders-techies-support-socialism-capitalism