Monday, May 02, 2016

Why does Bernie Sanders have overwhelming support among young people?

Common Dreams has just published an interesting article on the current state of the election. In it, I found a most interesting passage regarding Bernie Sanders' campaign for president:
Polling director John Della Volpe told the Washington Post on Monday. "He's not moving a party to the left. He's moving a generation to the left," adding, "Whether or not he's winning or losing, it's really that he's impacting the way in which a generation—the largest generation in the history of America—thinks about politics."
This corroborates with another observation at The Intercept rather well:
"Top GOP Pollster: Young Americans Are Terrifyingly Liberal"
According to new polling by right-wing political consultant Frank Luntz, Americans 18 to 26 are extremely liberal — so liberal that “the hostility of young Americans to the underpinnings of the American economy and the American government” should “frighten every business and political leader” and “excite activists for Sanders and, to a lesser degree, Clinton activists.”
Young people are beginning to notice that they've been screwed over big time by the Baby Boomers and they're not happy about it. They're having trouble paying for college education. They're being screwed over by trade schools that take their money and fail to find them jobs. They can't buy a house to make into a home when they're saddled with so much debt. They find themselves victims of the selfishness of the generations that preceded them, mostly Baby Boomers and that other one, "The Greatest Generation".

Somehow, we went from caring for each other during the Great Depression, to working with each other for our mutual prosperity from 1944 to 1980, to "keep your hands offa my stack, Jack". We have come full circle and we are still recovering from the Great Recession. That Great Recession was the result of a monumental generation of selfishness. All of the prosperity gained by America since 1980 came at the expense of the next generation and most of it went to the top 1%.

We now stand at a time when birthrates are near all time lows. We also stand at a time when voter turnout is near all time lows. We are starting to get it that income inequality is inextricably linked to our participation in politics. If we as a nation fail to participate in politics, we will we be ruled by our inferiors. The top 1% get it and they show up at the polls.

By their hand, they have given us a society laboring under constant surveillance. They have given us a body of public policy that has detached compensation from productivity, across the board. They have entangled us in two very costly wars and neglected our infrastructure. And they have sought to privatize social welfare programs for their own personal gain. All this while allowing industry to foul the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

If they had not done all that, we would not have Bernie Sanders and a political revolution spreading across the nation. Even if Bernie does not win the Democratic nomination, it is now too late. The emperor has no clothes and now, we are all free to admit it. We are free to admit that selfishness is not an economical or biological prerogative and that it will not sustain the human race.

Bernie polls well with you people because they too have begun to notice that selfishness is not an attribute for biological success. They would like to reclaim their seat at the table and remove themselves from the menu. I can only hope that they succeed.

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