With the race for the White House coming at full blaze, there has been one man who has shaken up the democratic world. Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been all throughout the year, and the more media he receives, the more voters he racks up. With the many ideas that Bernie Sanders states, it is astounding on how modern his views are, and how well he speaks. Bernie Sanders is a passionate candidate, who has much job experience, which he started in 1972 (berniesanders. com, timeline), without any super PACs to back him up (CNN,Bernie Sanders Fundraising).
He is the only candidate who doesn’t accept money from these large corporation businesses. Bernie Sanders has a strong stance on free college education(Youtube, Bernie Sanders on Education), the outsourcing of jobs (berniesanders. com, Income and Wealth Inequality) , medicare for all (berniesanders. com, medicare for all), $15 minimum wage(berniesanders. com, living wages), and the malfeasance of the government (Youtube, We Must Replace Our Corrupt System of Legalized Bribery). College is a very giganto decision in today’s the United States.
All throughout your secondary education, you are asked about your life after secondary education, what you plan to achieve, and how are you preparing for post-secondary education. In today’s economy, I can say with assurance, I’m not sure If I am predisposed to go through college. 30 years ago, the United States was the top, out of countries, with the most amount of students graduating from college (Youtube, Bernie Sanders On Education). That story is not the same anymore. In 2015, we were pronounced 12th place (Youtube, Bernie Sanders on Education).
The United States’ niche have dropped 11 places since 1985. Bernie Sanders states that there are intellectual scholars in secondary school who have the disposition not to go into post-secondary schooling due to the current economy, and don’t wish to be $60,000+ in debt (Youtube, Bernie Sanders on Education). I am one of these students who is currently thinking about my post-secondary schooling and the crippling debt that will come with it, even after my scholarships and grants. Bernie Sanders encountered a female doctor, who practices medicine with low-income people.
She graduated college $300,000 in debt (Youtube, Bernie Sanders on Education). A person, who is serving the people around her the best she can, suffers from massive amounts of debt, that will take her lifetime to pay off, as a scholar of the United States, I don’t want to end up like this. No amount of training would be worth being $300,000 in debt. How will Bernie Sanders fix this? By putting a tax on wall street (berniesanders. com, How Bernie pays for his proposals) that would generate $300 billion in revenue, and by cutting military spending by a diminutive amount (Youtube, Bernie Sanders on Education).
According to the chart, 55% of the total United States budget goes to military spending, while only 6% of the budget goes to education (Media National Priorities, Discretionary Spending Pie Chart). With 55% of all money going to military spending, and only %6 going to education, I believe we need to set our priorities to the future of tomorrow. That is why as a scholar of the United States, I chose Bernie Sanders and his post-secondary schooling plans. Another overwhelming problem in today’s society is the outsourcing of jobs. Outsourcing is when companies contract (work) out or abroad (Oxford Dictionary, outsourcing).
To simplify this, it means sending jobs to other countries due to the labor costs being cheaper than it would be to make in the United States. The total number of jobs that were outsourced in 2015 came in at a staggering 2,382,000 jobs (Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). The total number of jobs that has been outsourced to China since 2001 is 3,200,000 jobs estimated (Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). My dream job of being a software engineer, the dream of being able to code and script virtually anything, had the utmost amount of outsourced jobs in 2015.
The number of software engineering jobs that was outsourced last year was 211,700 estimated jobs, with a total amount of lost wages at $14,400,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). The number of accountants/auditors jobs that were outsourced were estimated to 160,000, with a total amount of lost wages at $8,500,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). Lawyers, the third on the list, has an estimated 40,400 jobs outsourced, with a total amount of lost wages at $4,300,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics).
Insurance sales agents had an estimated 11,000 jobs outsourced, with a total amount of lost wages at $591,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). Real estate brokers / agents had 6,700 jobs outsourced, with a total amount of lost wages at $332,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). Chemists had 3,700 jobs outsourced, with a total amount of lost wages at $230,000,000(Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics).
We live in a country today, where college is crippling adults with a behemothic unbearing amount of debt, and giving them a minuscule chance of capturing/keeping their job. Bernie Sanders believes in reversing trade policies such as PNTR, CAFTA, and NAFTA with China, which they are the origin of the driven down wages and has caused the outsourcing of millions of jobs.
If the corporate United States wishes for the people to buy their products, then they need to manufacture their products in the United States, not in countries like China that has extremely low-wages (Bernie Sanders. om, Income, and Wealth Inequality). NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), is a trade between Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America. This allows free trade between the three countries without tariffs or the reduction of the price. It also ensures free commerce. (Ethos)
This also allows companies to outsource jobs to these countries (Wisegeek. org, what is NAFTA). CAFTA (Central America Free Trade Agreement) is a trade agreement that expands NAFTA. It covers free trade between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic (citizen. rg, Central America Free Trade Agreement). PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) is a trade agreement between the United States and Russia (fas. org, PNTR status for Russia and U. S-Russia Economic Ties).
These trade agreements also allow the same scandalous trade with China and India. Companies prefer to outsource to India (28%), and when it comes to China (18%) (Statistic Brain Research Institute, Job Overseas Outsourcing Statistics). In current debates, an extensive issue that has been coming up between the candidates is medicare and the Affordable Care Act.
The current plan, ACA (Affordable Care Act) was a stepping stone for a universal health care for all. Although, there is still 29 million Americans that are uninsured. On top of that, innumerable amounts of the citizens that are part of the government plan are undercovered. Many people cannot afford the high deductibles and copayments that are charged from copious private insurance companies. The United States spends a myriad amount of money on healthcare per person than any other country that exists today. With high-cost insurance, people spend a bountiful amount of money and still get little coverage (Berniesanders. om, Medicare for All).
We need to have a system where people any age, any socioeconomic status, or income can get the help they need and live a healthier lifestyle. Bernie Sanders believes that insurance and employment should be separate. A person should have the ability to leave a job that does not fit them, and not worry about losing their insurance. Mothers should be able to take maternity leave and take care of their child without getting fired. We now live in a world in that we have mothers that go to work after 1-2 weeks of having a child because they need to pay their bills and put food on the table (Berniesanders. om, Medicare for All).
$15 minimum has been a very controversial topic over politicians and citizens here latterly, but these are some influential reasons, why I switched my opinion from not being congruent to the $15 minimum wage, to fully supporting the out-cry. The current minimum wage is a starvation wage (Berniesanders. com, a living wage). How are parents going to be vital in their role with a starving wage while having to pay for rent, bills, car payments, gas, and food with only procuring a $7. 5 minimum wage?
Many of us have seen the face of poverty, and a minority of us haven’t. Today in America, Bernie believes that if you are an industrious American, who produces 40-60 hours a week in work, you should not have poverty knocking at your door (Youtube, $15 Minimum Wage). A waiter today makes $2. 13 an hour, plus any tips (which also get taxed) (Youtube, $15 Minimum Wage). Bernie Sanders is for ensuring job security by strengthening the role of unions, and increasing the voices of the people by the Union.
Bernie Sanders will fight for a union for fast food workers, which is currently not protected (Berniesanders. com, a living wage). The top 1% of the country, subsidizes candidates with money through super PACs. A super PAC is a category of independent political action committees made by companies which have the right to raise unlimited sums of money from unions, corporations, and individuals (Oxford Dictionaries, super PAC). With a political campaign finance system that is unscrupulous and supervised by billionaires and special interests, the government for the people is perishing.
Super PACS allows for colossal companies to insert an infinite amount of money into the finance system, and this allows them to bargain out candidates that represent for people. Super PACS, have tremendous influence over the candidates campaign than the candidates do themselves. This allows for these candidates to become more of a represent the super PACS then the people. According to the Associated Press, 60 donors have accounted for ? of the money for campaigns. These PACs gave campaign contributions that priced to $100,000 by August 4, 2015, early into the campaign.
The Koch brothers plan to contribute $900 million to the campaigns. The political system is turning into an oligarchy where companies conclude who gets elected, which is in contrast to the standards of the democratic society and constitution of the United States that is established (Youtube, We Must Replace Our Corrupt System of Legalized Bribery). Bernie Sanders is in opposition to these super PACs and protests through having his campaign be raised completely through contributions. Therefore, this explains how Bernie Sanders, in many citizens opinions, would be a great president.
These were only 5 out of 22 issues Bernie Sanders states on his website. Alongside with LGBT rights, reforming wall street, and combating climate change to salvage the planet, Bernie Sanders seems to hit all the topics of concern, and the topics strike up the many values and morals of the young people. Bernie Sanders, through his campaign, is building a sense of credibility, alongside with his previous arduous campaign career, he seems to be very passionate about his values and beliefs, and I believe, alongside many other young scholars, that it is the time for a political revolution.
With everyone’s cooperation, we will be very adroit to stop the corruption of the government, and have the establishment of the United States of America. Which have been made by the people, from the people, for the people, to work as intended and not for capitalist such as the Koch brothers. I am feeling the “bern,” and with his ideas, we will be able to ensure our future.
