A short post on why I appreciate Bernie Sanders

In my first post that ended in an extremely random endorsement for Bernie Sanders, I promised a post to explain my admiration and respect for him and here it is. (warning, this won’t be my only Bernie post) Depending on your social circles you may have or have not heard of the name Bernie Sanders before. What you need to know is that Bernie Sanders is a candidate for the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. He is also currently on the verge of running one of the most successful grassroots campaigns in the history of the United States. What is it about the guy that makes him so special?

Bernie has a long list of political achievements, but the purpose of this post is not to list them all and glorify his accomplishments. Instead I want to look at something not many people are talking about. Without a doubt, the greatest thing about Bernie Sanders is his authenticty and consistent morality. As early as the 70's Bernie has been an ally and advocate for gay marriage, decades before it was “the right thing to do.” During the 70's, if you were advocating for equal rights for LGBTQ communities, you were essentially committing political suicide. He’s been calling for supporting public education since the 80's. He’s been leading the fight for income inequality from around the same time. He was also educating people on the idea of “socialism.” Not the authoritarian regime that people most people commonly associate with the Soviet Union, but a form of government that is truly by the people and for the people. Decades later, he’s still fighting for these same basic principles not because they are the latest buzzwords that get attention in Washington, but because he’s committed to his cause. The man is true to himself and to his constituents.

It’s not every day you get a decent human being like Bernie Sanders running for the most important political office in the United States. He is someone who has truly made me excited about politics and has given me hope for the future of our country. Like many people, I used to be really jaded when it came to politics. Of course I had an opinion on everything, but I didn’t care too much about politicians. At the end of the day, they’re all the same. Or so I thought. Before Bernie Sanders came along, every politician I had looked into seemed to have a shady past (or present) when it came to their political stances and where their political contributions came from. There was no politician that I could find that was truly beholden to their constituents rather than corporations. The fact that this man chose not to open a Super PAC (For those who do not know, in short, a Super PAC is essentially a way for politicians in the united states to get virtually unlimited funding from corporations) is truly remarkable and admirable.

Bernie Sanders is truly a man of his word. The biggest reason I am a strong advocate for Bernie Sanders is not for his political views (however, I do agree with almost 100% of everything this man says), but for his consistent morals and almost inhuman honesty. It’s easy to find someone who shares the same views as you in government, but finding a decent human being with integrity is almost impossible. You’d hope that these two fundamental qualities would be a given for any government official, especially in a “democracy.” My hope is that with the election of Bernie Sanders to President of the United States, more good and honest people will be elected into government and we will finally shift away from a country focused on the wants of business, to the needs of people. However, before we get there, there is much work that needs to be done. If volunteering isn’t your thing, you can donate to Bernie Sander’s campaign. So far, 185,000 supporters have signed up on his campaign’s website and the average donation is $43. (https://berniesanders.com)You don’t have to give $43, but every little bit helps.