l Like his younger brother, Bernie, the left-wing Senator who is running for the Democrat nomination in next year’s US presidential election, Larry Sanders is not shy about being blunt.
“You have to be very financially committed to the current system — or very stupid — not to know what’s happening,” the 84-year-old says of the climate crisis.
“First, we have to accept that this is very important, and then to do what you think will make a difference politically. I can never understand how people only go nine-tenths of the way on that.
“And there are a lot of people who don’t want that to happen, for various good reasons, and there are a lot of other people who don’t pay much attention.”
Born in New York but a UK resident for 60 years, Sanders has been a leading figure in Green Party politics since joining in 2001 and enjoys a reputation as an activist in his adopted home town of Oxford.
He served on Oxfordshire County Council from 2005 until 2013 and has run for Parliament for the Greens twice — first in Oxford West and Abingdon in 2015, and then for David Cameron’s vacated seat, Witney, in the 2016 by-election.
He currently serves as the Green Party’s spokesman on health and social care, and attends the cross-denominational Oxford Jewish Congregation “on the High Holy Days”.
He says his politics are deeply rooted in his Jewish upbringing.
“When I was growing up, it was a very powerful social justice community. In the diaspora, we didn’t have any Jewish Republicans. If you were a right-wing Jew in New York when I was growing up, that meant you were a left-wing Democrat.
“Historically, being Jewish meant standing out against the mob, whether you wanted to or not. So, I hope there’s something of that left.
“I find it very hard to know where the Jewish community is now. History is history, things change — they never stay the same.”
Like many of those who are committed to climate activism, Sanders no longer eats meat and gave up his car “a long time ago”.
One of the features of his brother’s campaign is the Green New Deal, a set of economic reforms and public works programmes that aim to address climate change and economic inequality. In fact, Larry Sanders claims to have introduced the term to his younger brother “years ago”, which he says originated from the Green New Deal Group — a UK-based association, established in 2007, which publishes recommendations relating to financial, energy and environmental crises.
Sanders says: “My brother and I hold very similar opinions. I did mention [the Green New Deal Group] to Bernard all those years ago. He may well deny it! But he heard the phrase from me. I take full credit.”