Democratic debate: Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders’ initial opening remark of the Democratic Debate on Nov. 14 was patriotic and heroic in talking about the need to eradicate the world of ISIS, but he immediately moved to talk about the economy, which is undoubtedly his strong suit. One of the first topics that was discussed was how the invasion of Iraq was one of the worst blunders in American history. That was not the first time that he said that, but I completely agree with that statement. Then going on to the number of refugees, he said that America should do its job in taking them in but there was uncertainty regarding the quantity.
After the first break, the topic shifted towards domestic policy, and Sanders was asked specifically about how he intends on covering the expansion of social security and free college, as well as social programs. With a shock, he immediately shot right to the wealthy and big business. He was not too certain of how he would do it yet, which concerned me. Because though I agree that the wealthy need to give back to our society, I think without a plan, it will be harder to convince those same wealthy people to be on board. As far as minimum wage is concerned, he wants to raise it to $15/ hour within the next few years.
The next issue was Wall Street. Sanders attacked Clinton’s plan and said that it was simply not good enough. He did not like that she took campaign contributions from Wall Street and that would lead to her being too nice to them.
He insisted on breaking up the big banks. I think that is crucial so that the banks do not continue having a large monopoly.
I appreciate Sanders as a candidate and it’s partly because he is blunt about the problems that the media chooses to cover. He was not afraid to talk about how Clinton’s emails are unnecessary and how he does not care about them. He went on to elaborate how the media needs to cover topics that concern the problems that the middle class face. I wholeheartedly agree because society needs to care about the people at large rather than speculation that is less relevant to the people of America.
Afterwards, they talked about free college, which I am extremely passionate about. He supports free public college and believes that it is a great investment for our country and I think that is a noble and fundamental belief. Education is the bane of our existence and the stem to our future. Education should be readily available and more people should be allowed to access it. Education, as well as health care is a basic human right. I think single-payer healthcare is a phenomenal idea because people are allowed to live and not have to struggle with sickness just because of their socio-economic position.
To close, he brought up the issues of inequality, campaign finance, childhood poverty, paid family and medical leave, and how they all call for a political revolution. This term, “political revolution,” has been used frequently during the time Sanders has been running for president and I think this calling is actually working. I think that for the next debate, he should have a plan with specifics about how he wants to tax the rich and keep talking about the role of youth on society. In comparison to the last debate, I think he did just as well. When you speak so boldly and preach about social injustice in American society, it is hard to not have a positive reaction.
