The two most powerful tools in politics are money & fear.
Money is brought in by the huge corporations and funneled to all of our representatives in Washington via lobbyist and a broken campaign finance system that allows the wealthy to give these ridiculously large campaign donations and if/when said politician becomes elected they are almost completely controlled by the man or company that funded them. So now think. How is that people we elect to represent us in government are selling their influence to these corporations as if they were selling shares of stock? It is because we live in a time where a Supreme Court ruling titled Citizens United (ironic) has allowed for an unregulated flow of money into politics. Thus causing politicians to care just enough about the average Americans problems to be able to campaign all across the nation “relating” to people’s struggles and begging for their vote just to not do anything about them once elected. Nothing is done because these politicians say that their debt is to the people during their campaigning, only to forget those promises and repay their actual debt to the corporate backers once in office. This isn’t just a republican or democrat thing. Politicians from every state have accepted money from big business and have worked in Washington to appease these backers and keep the cash flow coming. So the real problem here isn’t the politicians themselves, its that we live in a time where our democracy is for sale.
Fear has always been a tactic used to control people. Hitler used fear to control the German people and get them to allow him to round up the Jewish citizens and treat them however he wanted once they arrived at concentration camps. Fear was the main tool used by the then head of the FBI,J. Edgar Hoover as he pushed for the militarization of the police as the answer to the “black uprising” in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Fear has always found its way into politics and today is used by politicians in how they will combat immigration. Fear that “too many” Mexicans will cross the border or “too many” Syrian immigrants will enter our country and ruin it from the inside is the tool some politicians are using to push for an immigration reform plan that will stunt the growth of a country that was created by immigrants. Even the idea that we entertain a candidate that called an entire country of people rapists, killers, and criminals proves that we are not as civilized a civilization as we may have previously thought.
Despite these two powerful tools we now have a candidate that refuses both in favor of the truth. Bernie is neither been bought nor has he ever turned to fear to garner support from the people. Bernie isn’t the only candidate promising to repeal Citizens United but he is the only one not benefiting from it (think about it). Bernie has not “dabbed” on national television to gain the black vote or ever called young black men “super predators” only to 20 years later call out to those same people claiming to understand that their lives matter. For those of you that have lost faith in politics I say I too believe very little in 99% of candidates. This one, however, has gotten through to me because of his unwavering support of the black community dating back to the March on Washington, his constant criticisms of the lack on income equality in the United States today and his support for debt-free college education (I once wrote a post about how ridiculous the current system is). So if you are one of those people that have given up hope then I say there is finally an answer with Bernie Sanders. But if you would prefer politics as usual then by all means vote for another candidate.
P.S
Enough with this “anyone but Trump” talk. If you think that way then the person that does enter the White House only has to be a little bit better than Trump for you to be satisfied. We should never allow a man like Trump to be the standard set for our next President. Educate yourself on all the candidates and choose one that best fits YOUR beliefs.