Bernie Sanders.
When I first heard that name I was still in high school, at my progressive boarding school. At that point in time, he was just some wacko senator from Vermont, that all the hipsters liked. I figured, what the hell, maybe I'll look into him. When I looked into him, I saw his promises and I truly believed they were unrealistic. Even when he released his plans on how to fund those policies, I still thought "Wow, this man is some kind of nutjob" and figured that he was just a hyper-liberal person, who had no idea what he was talking about. That was until I saw one of his speeches online.
The man spoke with a fervor, with a conviction and I was surprised. As an independent who leans moderate I always thought of some liberals as too left-wing for my tastes, as I love the smell of capitalism in the morning, and while the idea of a gun is abhorrent to me personally, I think that anyone who puts in the effort to get a gun license should be able to own a gun. I don't really want to debate those issues- I am just explaining why I lean moderate. However, Bernie's plan of democratic socialism and the way all of his policies were publicly funded, that I did like. His drive to work for the common good, his voting record on war and his fight for affordable health care and college made me feel enticed, and willing to do more research.
As a millennial, I have many dreams and aspirations. Most millennials do, it isn't uncommon. As a generation we are dreamers, and that is okay, because without dreamers nothing would get done. I remember about a few months ago, someone telling me that "You are but a fool for supporting Sanders", and thinking to myself, "Maybe I am". Maybe I still am but a fool, and a dreamer. Bernie Sanders, however, wants my dreams, and those of my generation, to become a reality. However much one may not like Sanders, a lot of people generally admit, "Yes, Sanders is an honest man, but his policies are unrealistic." While I personally think they are realistic, I can see the viewpoint of someone who may not and it is completely fine. However, the point isn't that or isn't necessarily that, it is WHY someone with these policies thrives in my generation.
My generation is a generation of dreamers, and fighters. We've been thrust into this world where a lot of people leave college with loads of student debt and have to work a long time to pay them off. We've been thrown into a reality where cancer patients have to start GoFundMe pages because they do not want to die. We've been pushed headfirst into an existence where people think that we are slackers, and that we are good-for-nothing kids. Yet we still dream, against those odds. An older supporter once told me, "You speak like a child, who hasn't had his dreams repeatedly crushed yet." I was unable to attend the college of my dreams, St John's college due to monetary issues. I know what dreams look like when crushed. With Bernie Sanders, I thought that "Maybe, just maybe he will be able to fix things". Fix the healthcare system where people have to start GoFundMe pages not to die, and fix the education system where millennials will come out with crippling student debt. As a millennial, I want to vote for someone who represents my dreams. I want everyone to have social and civil rights, and have no discrimination. I want people to live happily and be able to have access to the same things as people do in other countries. Bernie Sanders represents that perfectly.
As a conclusion, I offer you this. In my English classes, and my poly sci classes, this is what I struggle with the most, the conclusion. After the meaty body of my essay, the end is always the hard part. Why exactly am I, and other millennials, voting for Sanders? The answer is simple. We want change, and he is offering us that. He may sound like a nutjob to some among the older generations, and even some among the young, but hear me out. At least he is trying to fix things, and to me that is what matters. He is bringing something to the table that those in 2008 experienced, and what my generation who can now vote feels: hope. I think that millennials would rather vote for someone who tries to change things for the better because he cannot accept the way things are, rather than sit in complacency and accept the way things are. People want to believe and Bernie offers us a vessel, and a representation of what we believe in. Even in his slogan, "A future to believe in," we can see the word believe. Personally, I want to believe, and many others do too. We want someone who we can trust and someone who wants to change our future for the better.
