The year 2016 may be the year our country elects a real American hero. No, not Donald Trump (I’m still confused as to whether his campaign is a joke or not). Bernie Sanders is the hero we have been looking for. Bernie is all about giving every American a chance to succeed. He recognizes the issue with wealth distribution, and how it prevents so many Americans opportunities to reach his or her full potential. Bernie has many ideas for improving the lives of Americans, and I believe he could make great improvements to the United States.

Bernie understands the absurdity of our minimum wage. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which is so far from substantial. Working at minimum wage for a 40 hour week would only earn a person $290, before taxes. How is a person expected to pay for housing, food, transportation, medical care, and all other expenses at $290 a week? Not to mention, what if a person has a child and must rely on minimum wage? The parent must then work extra hours to pay for the child, therefore spend significantly less time with his or her child. How is it fair to deprive a child of his or her parent’s time just so that their parent can afford to keep the child healthy and comfortable? Bernie is currently fighting to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour (berniesanders.com). A $15 minimum wage would be a fair amount of money. Single parents would benefit so much from this. Living in poverty can affect a child’s life significantly, and raising the minimum wage would prevent so many children from growing up in poverty. Fewer families would depend on welfare if we raise the minimum wage. Bernie not only wants to raise the minimum wage, but he wants to create jobs that earn greater than minimum wage. He has many plans to invest money in creating jobs, to keep jobs in America, and to employ young adults (berniesanders.com).

Raising the minimum wage is just one step in his plan to bridge the poverty gap. He has big plans to redistribute the country’s wealth, from multi-million dollar corporations and the country’s top 1 percent to the citizens in our country who are living in poverty. The huge corporations in our country and wealthiest people could give up huge portions of their property and it would barely affect their lives. While they are trying to decide between a yacht or another vacation home, other Americans are trying to decide whether to pay for rent or to pay for food. How is this fair? How do we have a government that supports huge corporations more than its own citizens?

Bernie also supports women in the way that other candidates are trying to suppress them. He is fighting against the gendered pay gap that has always affected women. He also recognizes the autonomy women should have over their own bodies. He understands the importance of Planned Parenthood, contraception, and safe abortions (berniesanders.com). The fact that he understands and supports women’s needs so strongly, sets him apart from many other candidates. The others don’t trust women to make their own decisions for their bodies, but Bernie is fighting for women to have the autonomy that should be a basic human right.

Bernie does not have huge corporations backing his campaign and funneling millions of dollars to him just because he promised something for them if he is elected. Bernie’s campaign is thriving off of small personal donations and social media hype. I cannot recall when I first heard about Bernie Sanders, but I know it was through a friend who shared something about him on Facebook. Soon enough, my newsfeed was full of friends and family supporting him and sharing his ideas. Anything I heard about Bernie was through the grapevine, or via his social media accounts, whereas I have heard about other candidates through ads. I am young, but I have never known a candidate to become so popular just because of hype among the population. The fact that people are learning about him and sharing his message says more than any polls. He is not buying his way into the presidency, he is earning it through the population’s trust.

I have yet to find something I dislike about Bernie. I couldn’t imagine better ideas for this country. I think he deserves to lead our nation to equality and opportunity for all. With his plans, the oh-so-important “American dream” will be accessible for all. That’s what an American hero would do, right? Bernie has so may more plans for the future of the United States. You can find out more about him at https://berniesanders.com/ or follow him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/senatorsanders) Instagram (@Berniesanders), or Twitter (@SenSanders).

Feel the Bern!