Why I believe Bernie is so popular
As you can tell by the title, I am obviously a Bernie supporter. This is not meant to be a form of bashing against any other candidates, instead just way for me to voice why I believe so many people support a candidate.
I think more than anything, Bernie represents more than just a single individual running for President. He has allowed for a discussion to take place in which we all can debate what it means to be more than just an American, but a human being. Over the last 30 to 40 years, a change in how society functions has taken place and not for the better. We have become a society of "me first and screw everyone else." An entire generation of people have grown up in this society and we are beginning to see how detrimental it is for future generations.
We have seen the divide between the rich and the poor only increase and the middle class disappearing before our eyes. We have allowed educating our citizens to become a low priority in exchange for corporate media to spoon feed us the news they want us to know. This has taken place as more of the folks in power have moved toward the right, even members of our own party. They even brag about being centrist. It's as if Liberal is a dirty word.
All around us schools are falling apart, along with roads, bridges, etc. Basic societal needs have been abandoned.
I am in my mid 30's and have children. I have grown up extremely poor and was the first in my family to get a college education. I like so many others had to fight an up hill battle for that and come out with more than a decades worth of debt to pay off. I worked throughout college and was exhausted going to class. My parents worked tooth and nail to provide for me growing up, working multiple jobs each to scrape by. Rarely going to the doctor b/c of not being able to afford the copay or deductibles when we even had insurance some of the time. Never going to the dentist until I was in college, because of not having the money. Layoffs were brutal during the 90's and hit my family like so many others. As a kid growing up and hearing your parents cry at night while they think you are asleep hurts to this day. The worst part. No one in power cared.
Our society became one in which corporations were the most important part of the world while the people, THE PEOPLE, who worked more and more hours with less pay and less benefits and less job security became an afterthought.
This is not the society I want to raise my children in. I want them to see that we are better than what this world has become. We are all human beings and need to start acting like it. We are the same. The differences in our cultures is what makes us great. We can learn from each other. The powers in control want us to see our differences as a bad thing in order to keep us divided. That is not what America is about. We can learn from each other. We are in this together. Embrace our differences and realize that we our all one great big family from the same ancestors.
Others try to scare us with misleading tactics about insurance or told our beliefs are not realistic. I would gladly pay an extra 2.2% increase in taxes to keep from paying nearly $5,000 to my employee for coverage and then an additional $3,000 out of pocket in copay and deductibles. I would be glad paying more if it meant a child in poverty could go to the doctor for help instead growing up like I did and hoping any injury or illness didn't turn for the worse, b/c we had no money for treatment.
I believe my generation wants a society that differs from what we have grown up in. One of despair and materialistic garbage. It is time to stand up and fight for a better place. A fair and just place where everyone has a chance to flourish. The odds are stacked against the poor and have been for years. The blood and sweat of the poor and middle class have created soaring profits for the rich. It's time the rich see the damage that is being done and invest in us, THE PEOPLE.
Bernie Sanders is saying exactly what most of us know is right. It's now the time to go a different path and fight for a better future. Not the future of the status quo just for the sake of not allowing a Right Wing nut in the White House, but instead we need to unite behind a candidate that puts the following us on a majority of Americans and not just the wealthiest.
Bernie has done more than just raise some issues. He has inspired a generation of us that will only continue into the future. Politicians and corporations need to take notice that this has been brewing for decades and we see a better path. We are educating ourselves, our friends, our families in the truth.
Sorry for the rant, just had to get it out.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Please consider spreading out the text a bit with line spaces, so it's easier for cotton-tops like me to read.
Thanks,
Snark
