Young People Love Bernie Sanders: A Guide for Baby Boomers
I’ve talked to many Baby Boomers and they can’t seem to understand why Bernie Sanders is appealing to so many young people. I’ve been a Bernie supporter for 5 years and I’m here to tell you why. I’m going to be friendly and cordial just like at Thanksgiving Dinner. I won’t yell and I won’t try and convince you to change your vote.
Well, when you were my age, everything cost next to nothing. Your college was affordable and you could pay for it working part-time. You didn’t have a cell phone bill. Healthcare wasn’t that pricy. If you didn’t go to college, you could have had a cushy union job with great benefits and a pension. Global Warming was many years off and only became common knowledge when you were well out of school. Millennials don’t even know what a pension is and global warming has been looming behind us for most of our lives.
Education
You drilled it into our minds that we needed a 4-year college degree if we wanted to amount to anything in this world. Then, you forced us to take out outrageous loans as high as 7% interest. A few of us were lucky enough that our families could afford it, but most of us were forced to take on debt. This chart suggests a year of education costs for a 4-year university were $2275 in 1976. That’s incredible! Even though the chart only goes up to 2007, the tuition, room, and board in 2007 was $18,445 for public universities It’s like the bankers conning folks into bogus home loans, but this time it’s the federal government that you helped create. I paid $2150 on interest alone this year off a $35,000 balance and I’m better off than many of my peers. Even with taxes, I was barely able to write off $400. I’ve already paid well over $20,000 — Money I could have used to save for a home or start my own business. Bernie plans to eliminate student debt and make public universities free! Of course we like him!
Healthcare
We live in the only developed country in the world where you can go bankrupt for medical bills. I spent $9500 over two years and I’m able-bodied and healthy. Under Bernie’s plan I’ll spend about $3400. I’ve had friends who’ve been in accidents or family members diagnosed with Cancer – who’s only hope is a risky GoFundMe despite donations failing at a rate of 90%. Treatments are often way out of reach for the middle class. If you manage to get the treatment, you’ll have to fight your insurance tooth and nail to approve it. Then, when you’re traumatized after a horrible surgery, you’ll look at the bill and see the Grim Reaper staring back at you. Bernie doesn’t want you to go broke! Healthcare will never be free, but you’ll spend substantially less in taxes. We think that’s a great idea!
Money in Politics
Another major problem are oligarchs running our elections. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg bought his way into the Democratic primary and he’s been dropping $5.4 million per week on digital ads! He’s already spent $183 million on television ads and much more by the time I publish this piece. Try to think out of the box here. I know learning and trying new things can be difficult, but let’s at least try and cap spending on individual donations and ban using millions of your own money to rig elections. We cannot have a functioning Democracy where one can buy their own election. Meanwhile, Bernie only accepts individual donations. Together, we can tighten the laws on political corporate donations and personal political funding.
The Earth is Dying
I hate to tell you, but Earth will be unlivable as a warming climate grows and natural disasters continue to intensify. It took me a while to hop on board with the climate change, but after my book club read Parable of the Sower, it painted a clear dystopia of what life on Earth will become. Do we want a society where people are starving and fighting, where water costs more than gasoline? While yes, some people will live on Earth for thousands more years, but with what miserable quality of life? While the billionaires live comfortably in their bunkers, the rest of us will die in the desert. Bernie supports a green new deal and while it’s not perfect, it’s a genuine attempt to reduce our climate impact and the anxiety centered around global warming. Life isn’t easy knowing that our children and their children won’t be able to comfortably live on our planet anymore. Bernie’s top tier when it comes to undoing climate change and this is a major problem!
Vote Blue
As I’m writing this, Bernie’s already wiped the floor with his opponents in the first 3 Democratic primaries, the first Democrat or Republican to ever achieve this feat. The Baby Boomers I’ve talked to can’t seem to understand his popularity. I’m asking you, my elders, vote for who you will in the primary, but be ready to get behind Bernie as he continues this winning streak. He’s one of the only politicians that’s appealed to Millennials and Gen Z. Bernie’s been consistent with his humanitarian beliefs and policies for 40 years. He wants the average worker empowered to reach the pursuit of happiness. We’ll see in the coming days if the he wins and can unify us to beat the abomination they call Trump. Let’s put it this way. The youth have the numbers, but we can’t do it without you. You have the option to choose between separating children from families and locking them in cages or you can vote for a social democrat and humanitarian that shares the same values as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Choose wisely. Your kids are watching.
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References
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-spending-healthcare-changed-time/#item-nhe-trends_total-national-health-expenditures-as-a-percent-of-gross-domestic-product-1970-2018
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_320.asp
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/student-loan-interest-rates/
https://www.kingdavidblog.com/home/healthcarespending
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953617300886
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/bloomberg-ad-spending-scale/
https://www.npr.org/2015/12/11/459231940/bernie-sanders-has-stuck-to-the-same-message-for-40-years
