By Kathryn Burress ’16, Contributor
With the Presidential election about a year away, hopefully you at least have an idea of who is running for President. One of the names that seems to be popping up over and over again is “Bernie Sanders.” Who is this Sanders, and why does his campaign seem to be taking such a strong hold with America’s youth? Bernie Sanders is a former mayor, congressman, and current senator in the state of Vermont. Though some may argue that Sanders is a Socialist, Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic Party in the Presidential Election of 2016, automatically making him appealing to the millennials of America. You have probably heard the term “Millennial” before, but what does it really mean? Millennials are people ranging from ages 18-33. While 51% of Millennials identify as Democrat, only 35% of Millennials identify as Republican.
Listed second only to wealth inequality on Sanders’ list of campaign issues is the issue of the cost of college. In 1980, the cost of tuition at a four-year public college or university averaged at $2,100. In 2010, the average cost was $7,600. Even adjusting the 1980 cost for inflation, bringing it up to about $5,560 in 2010 dollars, there is still a $2,000 difference in tuition. As the cost of higher education increases, attending college without taking out heavy loans is less and less of a reality for America’s youth. Sanders’ plan for solving this problem is to make all public colleges and universities free to attend, citing that “this is not a radical idea.” Germany, Finland, Norway, and Sweden all offer free higher education to their citizens. By imposing a tax of “a fraction of a percent” on Wall Street speculators, college could become an opportunity instead of a burden for young Americans. Sanders also has a goal of cutting interest rates on undergraduate loans, and allowing those who already have student loans to refinance their loans. Sanders’ campaign site says that “It makes no sense that you can get an auto loan today with an interest rate of 2.5%, but millions of college graduates are forced to pay interest rates of 5-7% or more for decades.” Most current seniors in high school will be eligible to vote in the Presidential election. With America’s youngest generation either facing the prospect of a high cost education, or already shouldering heavy student loans, the prospect of free higher education and low student loan interest rates is appealing, to say the least.
The main reason adolescents pursue higher education is the prospect of a well-paying job. Despite the hurdles that students go through educationally and financially to get a college degree, as of 2014, 460,000 Americans with a college degree were only earning minimum wage. Many Americans have to settle for a job that they are overqualified and underpaid for; in 2010 only 62% of college graduates had a job that actually required a degree. Though a single person might be able to scrape by on a minimum wage job, they would be unable to support a family without aid from the government. Returning to the Declaration of Independence, which declares “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” as human rights, this just does not seem fair. Bernie Sanders recognizes that young people are hit hardest by unemployment, and seeks to change the amount of people living in poverty in America. Sanders plans to invest one trillion dollars in repairing roads, highways, bridges, dams, and other federal infrastructure, and subsequently creating millions of jobs in America. Sanders is also pushing for an increased federal minimum wage, saying that, “In the year 2015, no one who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty.” The future that Senator Sanders envisions for America is one of promise to younger generations. If Sanders had his way in America, there would be no worry of being unemployed or underemployed post-college, and students would not have to worry about paying off exorbitant college loans.
Moving beyond just Senator Sanders is his competition in the Presidential Race. Hillary Clinton, also running for the Democratic Party, is plagued by an email scandal, among other things. There is also the concern of having people from the same family in office, as she is married to former President Bill Clinton, a concern that also transfers over to Republican candidate Jeb Bush, brother of former President George Bush. Republican candidate Donald Trump, with ideas such as closing borders to immigrants, seems to want the opposite of the equal-opportunity land that much of America’s youth envisions. Millennials are a strong generation of social activists that avidly pursue gender, racial, and economical equality for all. Sanders’ campaign seems to address all the issues that the young people of America identify with. Sanders is also consistent in his views; he rallied for Civil Rights at the University of Chicago in the 1960’s. Sanders is trustworthy, and he cares about the same issues as many young Americans.
According to online polls, Clinton’s popularity is falling while Sanders’ is increasing. For many young Americans, this election will be their first time voting for a President. Who they vote for all comes down to who they feel shares their positions on political issues, and who they trust to remain true to those issues while in office. Though only time will reveal the truth, that person just might be Bernie Sanders.
Sources: https://berniesanders.com/about/
http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/11/02/359705/in-the-last-30-years-college-tuition-tripled/
https://berniesanders.com/issues/its-time-to-make-college-tuition-free-and-debt-free/
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/why-are-so-many-college-graduates-working-minimum-wage-jobs
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
https://berniesanders.com/issues/creating-decent-paying-jobs/
https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/
http://nypost.com/2015/09/27/hillary-clinton-email-scandal-like-a-drip-drip-drip/
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions
http://time.com/3896500/bernie-sanders-vermont-campaign-radical/
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-democratic-primary#!
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