History was made on Friday as SIUE welcomed a presidential candidate to campus for the first time in school history.
Senator Bernie Sanders, running for the Democratic nomination, held a rally in the Vadalabene Center attracting over 5,000 people. There were people lined up early in the morning and the senator actually spoke to people outside who were not allowed in because the building was over capacity. Sanders came to SIUE so he could reach both Missouri and Illinois voters before their primaries on March 15. I attended this rally because I have supported him since he announced he was running. He has gained a ton of support from young people especially, and now, he has the chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets in political history in defeating Hillary Clinton. I and so many others "Feel The Bern," and here's why:
When Bernie Sanders announced he was running for president people laughed at him. “Really, a socialist running for President? No way he’ll ever win,” they mocked. I remember hearing this same line in 2008. “Really, a young African American running for president? No way he’ll ever win.” That lame talking point was repeated until Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States. You can write Senator Sanders off as some type of fringe candidate if you’d like, but that is simply just not the case.
He is tapping into a deep frustration with the American people. Wages are stagnant, yet production is increasing. Young people are drowning in debt after they graduate college. We are losing jobs at an enormous rate due to our trade policies, and on Friday, Sanders criticized Hillary Clinton for supporting them. Health care is still something that 29 million people do not have. The list of issues that he is speaking about goes on and on. We are the richest nation on the planet, yet we are trailing a lot of countries in almost every major category including healthcare and education. We lead the world in two things: military spending and incarceration per capita.
Bernie Sanders doesn’t want to get rid of capitalism as a whole, only corrupt capitalism. As he mentioned in his speech on Friday, he wants to make sure people on Wall Street are held accountable for their actions that affect Main Street. If you think that no form of socialism will work, then don’t call the fire department when your house catches on fire, don’t send your kids to public school and social security? Forget about it. These programs are all dirty socialist plans that everyone hates.
Except they’re not. They’re actually not even controversial. Almost everyone agrees with the concept of social security. That's why Sanders emphasized that we aren't going to cut social security. We're going to expand it. Surely, no one thinks someone should have to pay a fire fighter when his or her house catches on fire. There are things that we have decided are worthy of paying for so everyone can use them, now the debate should turn to what things are worth paying for.
We are the only modernized nation in the world that does not offer healthcare as a right to all of its people. Yet we spend more on health care than nearly all of these other nations. This is a point that he hits hard in almost every speech.
"I believe that healthcare is a right of all people and not a privilege," Sanders said on Friday to an SIUE audience.
He has proposed a small hike on income tax and employer tax in order to pay for his Medicare-For-All system. Unfortunately, this is the only thing you’re going to hear from critics. The crazy socialist is at it again, raising our taxes. What you won’t hear is that the American people will actually save money under his plan. It will be a net-gain. This is because the 2.2 percent increase in income tax pales in comparison to the amount of money people pay on co-pays and deductibles. This makes his plan both life-saving and cost effective.
The talking point that is trotted out the most against Bernie Sanders is, “Nothing is free.” This is normally followed by someone telling you that they took one econ class and they know for a fact his policies won’t work. The thing is, he has specified how he would pay for his plans. For instance, closing tax loopholes and a tax on Wall Street speculation would pay for his plan for free tuition at public colleges.
America has its priorities entirely wrong when spending $2 trillion dollars on the Iraq War is okay, but making sure everyone has healthcare and that children can get an education is unaffordable.
I only covered a little bit of what Bernie spoke about at SIUE. He covered many other things such as combating climate change and addressing systematic racism. He was able to get many young people to show up to the rally because he is talking about the issues that young people care about. I have never been interested in politics because I just thought it didn't matter. Now I care deeply about it, and that is largely because of this campaign. That's why I was so happy when I found out he was coming to my school. And that is why I support Bernie Sanders for president.
