Our generation is often referred to by baby boomers, both conservative and liberal, as the "entitlement generation." Like every generation, our view of the world differs greatly from that of our parents. Our generation has grown up in a post-Reagan and post-Clinton (who himself was a more conservative "third way" Democrat) era, and has both seen and felt the long-term consequences of their policies, which once seemed so successful. The size and power of financial institutions have grown to new and dangerous heights, threatening to tank the entire country's economy should they fail. The gap between rich and poor has stretched out to levels not seen since the Great Depression, and the middle class - the backbone of any modern economy - has continued to shrink. The once best path out of economic struggle, an education, has become far too expensive for many people to afford, with college tuition at both public and private universities rising each and every year. Those lucky enough to get a higher education find themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt, sometimes more, and still struggle to find jobs. Without a job, health care is often too expensive, and even with Obamacare, there are too many Americans left unable to see a doctor. The cycle seems perpetual and ever downward, and these are only a sliver of the issues facing young Americans today. Everywhere we look, we see injustice.
The truth is, it's not about our generation feeling "entitled." It's about our generation seeing what was and what can be again, or what never was but what should be. In a modern age where medicine has become far advanced and there are plenty of doctors throughout much of the country, we believe quality health care should be seen as a God-given right, not a just a privilege for those who can afford it. In a global economy where a higher education is absolutely essential in order to compete with other countries, we believe that education should be free - or at the very least debt free - and readily available, without regard to the economic background from which we may come. We believe that any man or woman that works a full forty hours a week should not be making so little that they're still in poverty. We believe no corporation, no bank, no creditor, no institution of any kind should be so large that it essentially holds a monopoly, or that the country itself would be threatened should that institution collapse. In essence, we believe in a modernized version of what FDR represented. In a world that is often unjust and unfair, we believe in justice and fairness wherever possible. And it is possible.
These beliefs that many millennials hold are what drew us in such large numbers and with such great passion to the Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Millennials supported him overwhelmingly, and he drew more votes from our generation than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump combined. But unlike in the 2008 election, the young rebels did not win this time. Though we put up a strong fight, far stronger than ever expected, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination. We are now faced with an election where both candidates from the major parties are immensely unpopular, and neither of whom the vast majority of Americans find honest or trustworthy. There's been a lot of talk of unity among Democrats and left-leaning independents now that the primaries are over, but despite this many Bernie supporters feel left in the dark and are unsure of where to go. Like many other Bernie supporters from my age group, I too have until now remained undecided. Should I back Jill Stein as a vote from my conscience? Or perhaps Gary Johnson, who among all the third party candidates has the best chance of winning at least a single state. (And even that is quite unlikely.) However, the past couple weeks have made things quite clear: we must unify, even if its half-hearted, and support Hillary Clinton in November.
I will be the first person to admit that Hillary is not the perfect candidate. She has a lot of baggage. In an age of information, we can look up her entire background with just a few clicks, right from the palm of our hand. Not everything negative said about her is a vast right wing conspiracy. And in truth, many of us, myself included, have trouble believing that she'll stick to what she has said. But with Donald Trump's most recent antics, it is abundantly clear that we cannot afford the risk of a Trump presidency, and the best way to prevent one is to vote for another Clinton presidency. I don't like the "lesser of two evils" way of voting anymore than anyone else but in this election it's the only sane choice we have. Hillary Clinton being elected the 45th President of the United States will have many ups and downs to be sure, but compare that with Donald Trump, whose presidency would likely be made up almost entirely of downs. In the best case scenario, President Clinton follows through on trying to make all of her promises reality, and in the worst case she follows some and reneges on others. The best case scenario of President Trump is that we survive four years to vote him out of office, and I don't even want to consider the worst case.
The picture above, courtesy of Los Angeles Times, is a perfect representation of what I'm supporting. We must remember that when we cast our votes in November, we aren't just voting for who represents us, we are also voting for who represents our neighbors, our family, and our friends. On election day in November, I will cast my vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton to be our next President. I will do so not out of passion for the candidate, but to protect my immigrant neighbors, my Muslim friends, my fellow brothers and sisters in the LGBTAQ+ community; the list goes on. This is a true vote of conscience. I would urge any and all of my fellow Bernie supporters who still feel lost to follow my lead. The Political Revolution is not dead and it must continue, but it cannot do so with Trump as our next President. Come November, we must not only defeat Donald Trump: we must eviscerate him and the dark and divisive ideology which he represents. Let's make sure we're on the right side of history.
