Bernie Sanders is my hero. There, I said it.
Why? He gets me. Here, I'll explain:
My name is Kaleb. If you know me, then this article won't surprise you; but maybe if you don't you can understand moreso of why Bernie is the best choice for me.
I attend Northern Michigan University (NMU). This past semester I was in 16 credits and working approximately 30-40 hours a week. This means that I go to school full-time and also work full-time. My grades are staying steady at an approximately 3.3 GPA and I work incredibly hard for what I have.
The plot twist? Even with working full time, I do not make enough to be above the poverty line. I work exhausting hours either before or after school to just barely make ends meet.
I'm a freshman in college and I do not live at home. I have my own apartment, in my own name and pay for all of my utilities, gas, food and other expenses. Most of the time, I can't even put food on my table more than a few times a week, but that's okay because most people would view me being poor as me "being lazy."
The truth behind this is that just because you may not make enough money to be considered "okay," DOES NOT make you lazy. Bernie Sanders understands this. He flat out preaches that anyone working 40 hours a week DOES NOT deserve to live in poverty. He understands that school is expensive — hell, I can barely even afford to take classes. He's actively preaching about fixing our debt-crisis over education. Bernie Sanders understands that the federal minimum wage ($7.25) and even the Michigan minimum wage ($8.50) are starvation wages. He understands that people working for these wages — even if they work full time — cannot afford much more than a studio apartment and actually 100 percent qualify for public assistance programs (ie. food stamps/bridge cards, welfare, medicaid, etc.).
I also live in Marquette, Michigan, which is nicknamed "the outdoorsman's paradise" due to its location in the Huron Mountains, proximity to Lake Superior and effective seclusion from society. Nature is my reason for life, and it pains me that I do not get to spend as much time exploring as I would like.
Bernie Sanders believes that in America, we do not deserve to work long hours for little return. He believes in a $15 an hour minimum wage. Hillary only believes in $12 an hour, which is better than $7.25, but it doesn't as completely match up to where minimum wage should be as Bernie's figure.
Bernie Sanders also believes that we should help take care of the poor with our taxes and not be funding frivolous murder overseas. People see this as weak, un-American, and as a form of enslaving Americans to Shariah law, but in all honesty it shows that we do not stand for war. We do not stand for violence, and we are evolving into a country that is founded on compassion, not hate.
Hillary has voted time and time again for wars in the Middle East. She ignored the warning about Benghazi. She shooed off Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists at her rally. She supports smart fracking (which doesn't exist), and fracking can cause harm to citizens living around the fracking well.
Bernie deeply cares about ending sexual assault/rape all throughout society. As someone who has personal experiences with this subject, Bernie is my absolute hero. He understands that it can happen to anyone, that it does not happen to you because you "deserve it," and that men CAN go through this. Counter, Hillary defended a child rapist in 1975. She silenced the little girl who was raped by this man. Hillary belittled the little girl and told her that nothing happened to her. Hillary is rape culture. Hillary is an indictment to American customs surrounding the topic, and even if she has changed her opinions on the topic, she will never be able to overcome her actions.
Lastly, I am gay. I am ashamed of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for supporting Hillary. They messed up. Bernie Sanders has been fighting for my rights ever since the 1960s and 1970s when it was illegal to be gay. Hillary supported extensively her husband's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the military, which effectively barred gay men from joining. Hillary has consistently supported the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman until 2013 when it because taboo to think that.
Hillary is a woman who speaks for corporate America. Hillary is paid for her beliefs. Hillary is fraud. She thinks based on bribery, on treason and on illegal activity. In 2016 we need to move away from the idea that America needs its first female president this year, and we need to change to believing that Hillary deserves to be jailed for her actions. #BernieOrBust.
