Being an American comes with severe baggage. Living in the United States means you can work away precious hours of your life at minimum wage jobs for non-livable wages. These Americans who live paycheck-to-paycheck are the ones most economically affected by the unemployment resulting from COVID-19.
We live in a country that puts refugees into facilities where they are grouped together in cages with poor sanitary conditions and dub this “justice.” These conditions are ideal for spreading COVID-19.
Our industries, such as fast fashion and oil, continue contributing negatively to climate change, which will result in dying ecosystems, casualties related to pollution, and the rise of disease outbreaks.
Regardless of your political alignment, you likely agree these are problems that desperately require closure. Bernie Sanders was the candidate who avidly promised to address these issues.
“I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour,” declared Sanders in a live-streamed speech on Wednesday, April 8.
To hear he has dropped his presidential campaign is disheartening for Sanders’s supporters who made a massive effort to push this campaign.
Young people across the country resonated with his ideologies. Sanders gave the youth of America a voice, validating their struggles when older generations dismissed them.
The COVID-19 crisis took a toll on his campaign, meaning his political rallies had to come to an end as the situation intensified. Joe Biden’s escalating favor in the primaries made it, as Sanders explained in the live-stream, “virtually impossible” to win the presidential race.
Sanders will remain on the ballots for states with primaries and said he will be working closely with Biden to bring about change.
This means that everyone eligible to vote will have the main choice between Donald Trump and Biden in the upcoming 2020 Election.
If you were rooting for Sanders, it is important to remember, as a citizen, it is an American right to vote. It gives you the opportunity to participate in having your voice heard, regardless of the candidate whose ideologies you believe in.
If our current president has not given you any hope for the future, consider this election a call to action. Even if voters wanted to elect Sanders, it is recommended that they still participate in the elections, especially as a way to proactively respond to the pandemic.
COVID-19 has taught us that our healthcare and economic systems are subpar and climate change will continue to be our impending doom.
Therefore, we encourage “Bernie Enthusiasts” to remember Sanders’s efforts are only the beginning of a movement. We cannot fully depend on a single individual to erase the issues plaguing our nation; we must be able to tackle major conversations and strive to implement major changes to our failing system ourselves.
The citizens’ hope is that America can soon see better days and to one day see the country thrive beyond making it “great again”.