People are saying that Bernie Sanders can’t win the nomination.
Okay, that’s sort of an understatement. Bernie Sanders is being erased from the media. We’re being told his ideas are impractical. We’re being told that he doesn’t have a shot against Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, we’re hearing so much about Trump’s outrageous ideas that Bernie is getting pushed to the side.
However, I (and many others!) still have hope that he can do this. And here are four reasons, in five hundred words, that you should support him too:
He takes a clear, definitive stand on climate change.
I think we can all agree that climate change is one of the most massive issues facing our generation, and it is worldwide. We’re all going to feel it unless something changes, fast. And Sanders is the one who’s addressing this for the massive issue that it is. This starts with clean, renewable energy sources, like solar and wind power, instead of oil and fossil fuels. The U.S. is second only to China in CO2 emissions. That’s a problem. But we still have time to reverse the worst effects of climate change, and if Bernie Sanders is in office, it will be much easier to do so.
He’s going to improve income inequality.
This includes increasing the minimum wage, supporting universal healthcare, making housing more accessible, creating jobs, affirmative action, and making college more affordable. Yes, many of his policies are often called “impractical,” some even call them “giving handouts.” That’s not what it is. If a person is working, he or she should be making a living wage with that work. Every student should have an equal opportunity to get into college. Students shouldn’t have to graduate college in excessive amounts of debt, and when they graduate, they should be able to find work with their hard-earned degrees. Access to good health care and affordable housing should be considered basic rights. This isn’t giving handouts. This is common sense.
He considers war a last resort.
Sanders says that we must “move away…from military action” and support peaceful resolutions to conflicts before we go to war. Though Sen. Sanders acknowledges the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, he believes that we need to work with other nations, as diplomatically as possible, to address these issues. He says “we must begin to address the root causes of radicalization” of groups like ISIS instead of simply using force against these groups. This creates long-lasting solutions and minimizes the harm done in solving conflicts.
He supports immigration reform.
This means policies that will make it easier to enter the US, this means reforms that will help keep families together, this means demilitarizing borders, among many other things. Nearly all of us can look back to people in our families who came to America. Why are we discriminating against people now who are trying to build a better life, like many of our great-grandparents once were? Why are we discriminating against families who are just trying to stay together? Again, this just makes sense.
If you want to find out more, go to berniesanders.com. He knows what he’s talking about. #feelthebern