As a Democratic liberal, I am someone who likes to keep my learning mind open constantly. I am all about equal respect for both sides of the political spectrum, and have no problem speaking about our equally respectable differences. If you are an open conservative Republican, or maybe something completely different than me, I have the upmost respect for you and your beliefs. Along with this, more recently than ever, I have had several questions for those who question Bernie Sanders role in the Democratic race. “Why is he still even fighting for the democratic representative? He has not even the slightest chance”. It may be true that Hilary Clinton may be winning more of the votes, but Bernie Sanders has won some of the more important states. Why do you, the fighting team against Sanders, like to completely tear apart anyone who has any sort of progressive opinion on Bernie Sanders?
I remember when he was announced to run in the election in 2015, and almost everyone I knew was rooting for him. From the posters hanging in homes and business’ windows, to bumper stickers, my home town of Seattle was 110% Bernie Sanders for president, up until more recently. Up until the day Donald Trump was receiving more media coverage and support from American citizens, Bernie was nearly the talk of the world. “Man will he change the world” my dad said, as my mom would tell my brother and I, “I wish we knew more candidates/people in general like Bernie Sanders”. Ever since I can remember, my family has been openly liberal and heavily democratic; so following the most liberal candidate was no surprise in my household. The best part about growing up in my family was the ability and privilege my parents let me hold while deciding my own political stance. Never did my parents make me feel like my opinion was wrong if it was not equal to theirs, and it made choosing my own political side a lot easier.
One of the main arguments I have heard from friends at school, and over social media is, firstly, they have a problem facing Sanders whole notion for “free education”. Secondly, they do not want a “socialist” ruling this country and making “socialist decisions in the white house”. First, I do not think American citizens know the correct definition of Socialist. Socialist, as defined by Google, is “a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”
The issue I have with people seeing “socialism” as a problem, is the fact that maybe they do not see full government control benefiting the United States, and they see that as a threat to their own personal rights. My main issue that I have with the "haters" criticizing Sanders' idea behind “free education” are those who like to think he is literally going to be giving out free GED's and degree's; no, he is just trying to make it more affordable. All that Sanders' is trying to do is create a way to get more people off of the streets and into school while creating a larger work force and less poverty. If people stop to think about what ideas Bernie truly has, and stop listening to what the media or negative propaganda gets you to believe, I am sure more people than not will support his ideas.
I have been sharing my open political beliefs more recently on Facebook, and that is where I found out about the negative backlash Sanders is receiving. From bewildering remarks such as, “Why does he want to make everything free” to “He is just a lazy socialist”. Since going to college in the Midwest, I have not only met a handful of Trump supporters wishing to “Make America Great Again”, but my best friend here and her parents are Trump supporters. Not saying that her political choice has no significance or matters any less than mine, it’s just very different for me to know people on the complete other end of the political spectrum; from extreme liberal to extreme conservative, we still get along and share many of the same beliefs.
We have talked about whether we are pro-life or pro-choice, how we feel about the “border wall” being built, and the stance on ISIS, and I cannot tell you how similar our views are. We differ from me being pro-choice, and her pro-life, but we both stand equally the same when it comes to several other issues. The media and political publicists conforms us into believing that only one of the many presidential candidates are for us as they make it seem like personal beliefs are simple like black or white, and we either choose one side or the other.
Once my family was openly out-ed about their open support for the Presidential Candidate, we got more and more questions about why. I would constantly be posting videos, articles and photos of Bernie Sanders, either of his campaign or a rally he has just hosted. I knew everything about the guy, from his favorite pizza place in New York City, to how many siblings he had. Bernie Sanders is my presidential vote overall; I respect the Trump, Clinton, Kasich and Cruz supporters, as scary as some of the candidates may be. Overall, nothing I have said publicly on social media about my vote for Bernie Sanders is purposely trying to make those who are not voting for him feel like they’re doing something wrong. I just have a very loud political mouth, and am extremely proud I am so involved with Bernie Sanders' campaign.
Bernie for president 2016!
