The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

— George Bernard Shaw

Throughout the lengthy presidential primary season, I’ve wrestled with the decision about which Democrat I would support. Our candidates have all given us ample reasons to support them. I‘d largely decided to stay on the sidelines and simply cast my vote in February and I realize it’s late in the process to make a public declaration of support and to encourage others to join me.

Something has recently moved me to action: As a progressive, I’ve been told by mainstream/establishment-types to be practical and pragmatic for far too long, that I shouldn’t dream. The airwaves and print media are now being flooded with the same message, perhaps best articulated by Jonathan Chait’s recent brief against Bernie Sanders, that we Democrats ought to be practical and try to move the ball forward in small — infinitesimal, really — ways. I refuse to accept this argument. We need to risk real progress. We need to elect Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The pragmatism argument has cost us in innumerable ways, eroding our society and economy while leaving our families behind. We’ve lost ground on wages — real median wages are below their peak of 15 years ago. We’ve lost ground on infrastructure improvements, with the most recent example of lead-tainted water consumed by Flint, Michigan citizens. We’ve lost ground on innovation and entrepreneurship and have slipped to 12th place in the world on business creation. We’ve lost ground on education, with our students ranking 35th in math and 27th in science among 64 other countries. The lack of big dreams, big ideas, big visions has led to Democrats adopting a pitiful aspiration of incrementalism that has only resulted in a slower erosion of all we value.

But the biggest advances throughout history have only been made because of dreamers and “unreasonable” people. The Wright brothers and their pie-in-the-sky flying machine that led to air travel, Bell and his silly belief that voice could travel long distances over wires, Salk and his daydream of curing polio, or Jobs and his notion of putting computing power into the hands of everyday folks. In fact, not a single advancement has derived from being pragmatic and accepting the status quo. Not a single innovation has resulted from playing it safe. We would all still be writing on cave walls if there was no one who dreamed of a better way of life. Every one of those dreamers was told it couldn’t be done – and it couldn’t until we did it.

We also see it in our own lives. Would a pragmatist have dared to dream of college when nobody else in my family had achieved that?

Could a girl from a third-floor, walk-up tenement living on surplus food (the precursor to food stamps) dare envision that she could start a business, teach at a university, serve as a state representative, a state senator and run for governor of our great state? Envisioning a better life for me and my family and coming of age in a time when society believed in investing in its children allowed me to reach so many of my goals. JFK led the way by saying “Some dream of what is and say ‘why,’ I dream of what isn’t and say ‘why not.’”

I want dreams of a more just world. I want big visions of seeing every one of our children educated to meet the needs of tomorrow’s citizenry and workforce. I want unreasonable notions of workers making livable wages and participating in a vibrant, wealthy economy. I want the magical thinking that we can eradicate the corrupting influence of big money in our politics. I want the candidate who will fight hardest for all of those things and more.

It’s because of dreams and risks like these, prosaic and grand, that I’ve decided to support Sen. Bernie Sanders. If we get him over the line to the Democratic nomination and onto the White House, he might not succeed in all that he envisions. But one thing I know for absolutely certain and it is this: we can’t achieve a vision we don’t even try for.

I invite you to join me in getting Bernie Sanders over the line here in New Hampshire and on his way to achieving big dreams for all of us.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” ― John Lennon

— Jackie Cilley is a former Democratic candidate for New Hampshire governor, former state senator and currently serves in the New Hampshire House.