I’ve never cared much about politics, I’ve never voted in a presidential primary and I’ve certainly never donated to a politician’s campaign. That being said, I’ve just recently finished donating the maximum that I could toward the election campaign of Bernie Sanders and I think it’s very important that I explain why. Several months ago, while I was bored at work, surfing Facebook, I encountered a video on youtube called “Bernie Sanders — Then and Now (1985–2015)”. Then I watched his speech at the conservative stronghold of Liberty University. Then I watched another, and another and another. Sure I agree with many of his policy ideas and love his Brooklyn accent. But the thing that hit me harder than anything else, when you watch these videos, when you listen to him speak, there is without a shadow of a doubt that he truly cares about the people in this country.

Bernie Sanders being arrested in 1963 for protesting segregated schools

But it is not just how he speaks, but also how he acts. Time and time again, Bernie’s been fighting for those whose voices which cannot be heard. Not for any benefit, but because it was the right thing to do. In the 60’s, Bernie was fighting for civil rights as a student protesting segregated university housing and was arrested in a protest against segregated schools. As mayor of Burlington, he worked tirelessly for working class people who probably didn’t vote for the “liberal socialist” and by the time he was in Congress, he was able to win the trust of some of the most conservative of his constituents. And even though Vermont has always had a very small minority population, he was looking out for Latino guest workers being exploited in Florida, and was the only white member of congress to stand with the Congressional Black Caucus against voter suppression against minorities.

Senator Bernie Sanders after his initial attempt to increase funding for healthcare for veterans was blocked in early 2014. Not giving up, he would later succeed that year in passing the Veteran’s Choice Act increasing funding for Veteran’s healthcare by over $16 billion.

To me, Bernie represents the best qualities of the American people. Not only are we hard working people, but we are also people that have the courage to fight for what’s right, and a people who are kind and compassionate toward our fellow human beings.

His detractors say that his supporters are selfish because they want free education and healthcare. This could not be further from the truth, it is not selfish to say to our friends and our neighbors: “You deserve a quality education and you deserve healthcare”. Instead, it is they who are selfish, because what they’re actually saying is “I don’t want to pay for your education and your healthcare”. Truthfully, if he appealed to the selfish desires of people, he may have an easier path to victory. Instead, his campaign relies on convincing the American people to care for one another. In the end, the success or failure of Bernie’s campaign will not be a reflection of him as a person, but one of us as a nation.

“We do have a divided society. But the division is not…between freeloaders and the rest. Rather, it is between those (including many members of the 1 percent) who see America as a community and recognize that the only way to achieve sustained prosperity is to have shared prosperity, and those who don’t; between those who have some empathy for those who are less fortunate than themselves, and those who don’t.” — Joseph Stiglitz (2013), Nobel Prize Winner in Economics