Ever since Bernie Sanders came into media prominence, there has always been that one word that follows him: Socialist. His latest bill to introduce a government provided health care system that would eventually eliminate private health care has only strengthened his association with the term. In years past it’s hard to imagine a bill of this nature would ever come to national attention, yet today the belief that socialism is a practical form of government is growing amongst the masses.

And some may wonder how this came to be, how socialism, which is often associated with communism and poor economic policies, has gained so much support over the last year or so. I don’t have an exact answer for this, but hopefully I will be able to explain why I have faith in socialism and, in turn, you’ll be able to see the reasons why it is so appealing to many.

Now, one of the first arguments against a government that provides multiple needs for everyone is “Where would the money come from?” And yes, this is a valid question, and many people who support socialism, myself included, don’t understand anything about the economy and yet still believe in the economic policies of socialism.

So I understand why some laugh at people like me, people who frankly have little knowledge of politics or economics but talk about the evils of capitalism and the morality of socialism. But while many of us don’t know the ins and outs of economics, I still think we can see that capitalism isn’t working.

For example, if what I’ve read online and have been told is true, the wage gap between the rich and the poor is growing. This, along with knowing how much poverty can affect one’s well-being, makes it apparent there is something wrong with our economy. To me, someone who don’t understand economics, it makes no sense why poor people should grow poorer and thus have a harder time to live, while rich become richer and their struggle to survive changes in no way.

Now I understand that to many, it seems that I’m exaggerating the correlation between survival and poverty, but there are lots of incidents where this is the case. For a broad example, some people need money to support their family but don’t have means of doing so with solely their income from their job and thus get involved in crime, ending up in jail or dead.

From an outsider perspective, it may look like this was a choice, to get involved with crime. In reality, the decision was driven by a financial need, and the idea of committing crime most likely wouldn’t have occurred to the individual if they had money. Bottom line, your economic class determines a large portion of how you live your life.

With this in mind, I think we have to admit that money changes your lifestyle and does in fact make a lot of people happy. Not to say everyone who has money is happy, but it there are plenty of people who love money. And the cliché that money can’t buy happiness doesn’t apply to people without money, for no poor person would say having money is a bad thing.

Because to lots of people in poverty, money is exactly what they need to be happy. And this is why I don’t think anyone could choose to be poor by choice. The belief, shared by way too many, that poor people are simply being lazy and thus willingly choosing to live in a state of poverty is absurd, and is a flawed in many ways.

If having money does improve lives, as I believe it does, then no one would ever consciously choose not to have something that benefits their well-being. Unless the argument is that poor people are unconsciously making this decision and simply don’t know how to get out of poverty, but then how is it their fault for not knowing? Is the solution as simple as telling poor people how to get out of poverty? My bet is on no.

So if I believe poverty isn’t a choice, then, naturally, I’m curious as to what does cause poverty. And this is why it’s so easy for people like me to loathe capitalism, because what else could be the cause of poverty other than our economic system? But given the complexity of structural society, there are of course other that prevent one from making as much money as someone else e.g. racism, sexism, medical problems that go unaided, etc.

Even with these in mind, it seems that the hierarchical structure of capitalism that creates a large wage gap between the rich and poor, is a large part of the problem. In fact, problems like racism and sexism also create a superior group and a lesser group, much like capitalism, and benefit from other societal hierarchies and vice versa.

Free-market economy promotes the idea that you have a right to earn as much as you can, but as I have tried to lay out, not everyone has an equally opportunity to be financially successful and this will always be the case under capitalism. The goal, at least in my opinion, of our economy should be to ensure that everyone can find a job that pays well and guarantee that no one will ever have fiscal issues. Or in other words, accumulating wealth shouldn’t be the main concern, it should be eliminating poverty.

Once again, I know I have limited knowledge of capitalism, socialism and economic systems in general, so I might just be a naïve millennial. But I look around and see billionaires, rich politicians, million-dollar sports contracts and Hollywood film budgets over hundreds of millions. I see lots of money, but I also see lots of medical bills, student debt, and hardworking people struggling to buy food. And until someone convinces me that our current system is going to do something about poverty, I will favor the economic system that will at least attempt to end poverty.