2016: The Youth of America Feel the Bern.
A Persuasive Essay by
Madison Ely
Fourth Grader at Ohio
Virtual Academy
March 11, 2016
The revolution will not be
televised. Time after time the
mainstream media seem to ignore Bernie Sanders as a candidate. Yet Reuter’s poll put Bernie six points ahead
of Clinton last month. The poll showed
him dominating any of the Republican Candidates (1). Yet the news seems to imply that the race is
Clinton vs. Trump. The youth vote seems
to be being ignored, yet social media makes it clear millennials love to “feel
the bern”, as is the campaign slogan.
The people who will have to live with the policies of the next President
of the United States are the youth of America.
Even those who will not be old enough to vote for the next eight years
have strong feelings about this Presidential Election season. And for the youth of America it seems that
more and more we feel that Bernie Sanders is the right man for the job.
Bernie Sanders has a solid plan
for health care reform. According to him
“health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege”(2). His plan is to
create a single-payer national health care program. Medicare for all. Under his plan, he quotes
that the typical middle class family would save over $5,000 a year on health
care. One of the things that Bernie is most passionate about that I agree with
is that no American should worry about going bankrupt from a cancer diagnosis.
I am very concerned about cancer because it runs in my family. My grandmother died from a very rare form of
cancer, and the financial struggle impacted all of us to get her
treatments. We were unable to afford programs
that may have saved her life. Under
Bernie’s plan no family would ever have to go through something like mine did.
Bernie Sanders has a strong
history of standing up for civil rights. When he was in High School his
platform for Class President was based on raising money for Korean War orphans
to get scholarships. When he was in college he was arrested for protesting
segregated housing. He began his political career as part of Vermont’s Liberty
Union Party, where he called for the end of laws that discriminated against
homosexuality (3).From his earliest years Bernie has been concerned with the
wellbeing and rights of all citizens. The fact that he is from a Jewish family
and openly talks about the impact of the Holocaust on his views should be enough
of a reason to believe he means what he says. To my generation Civil Rights are important
because we are a generation that is diverse.
In race, sexual orientation, religion, and gender identity. My friends and I all agree that it is what is
on the inside that matters. We grew up
in a world benefited by many civil rights leaders. We have cheered as the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of same sex marriage. We want to move forward not backwards. And having a President on the right side of
history matters.
Bernie Sanders has a vision for
Education reform that will make America competitive again. He feels strongly
that early childhood education needs to be available to all. Sanders also
opposed No Child Left Behind, the law that made testing mandatory and punished
schools that were economically disadvantaged.
He recently voted for the Every Child Achieves Act, supporting the
flexibility of teachers to be able to do just that, teach. Most importantly, Sanders wants to reinvent
the way Americans attend college. He strongly supports the making of public
colleges and universities tuition free.
This would mean that rather than having to pay out of pocket or get huge
loans, any student meeting entrance requirements could get an associate’s
degree at a community college, or a bachelor’s degree at a state school like
Ohio State or Cleveland State. This would be paid for by implementing a Robin
Hood tax on Wall Street speculators.
Sanders also wants to make the financial aid process easier by removing
requirements to reapply each year (4).
It is the current young voters that will feel the first benefits of
Education reform for Colleges. Yet, the
reform to K-12 education is what impacts my generation now. We are the ones who
have been victim to ever changing tests, the pressures of needing to fit in to
a mold that is uniform and does not fit the individual’s needs to create, grow,
and thrive.
The youth of America feel that
Bernie Sanders is the leader we need for the revolution taking place. He is the
best man for the highest office in the country.
A man who is principled, and actually has a plan to make America a
country we can be proud to live in. He
the voice of the average American and of the youth. He will leave us a Nation that we can inherit
that will not be in ruin. Bernie Sanders
looks to the future, not to the deep pockets of a fading generation.
-
Works Cited
1. 1.
Bipartisaonreport.com (2/25/16)
2. https://berniesanders.com/medicareforall/ (2/29/2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment