Why We’re With Bernie

By Chris Dascher and Katy Otto

We are a middle class family of two working parents raising a four year old son in South Philly. We take pride in our careers- as a letter carrier and professional in a non-profit that advocates for young people in foster and juvenile justice system- and in our community. When we go to the polls for a presidential candidate, we’ll be looking for a candidate who represents our values and interests, and above all has a vision for an America where we want to raise our child. We’ve come to believe there is one candidate who truly has such a vision, not just with a sense of optimism and humanity, but with actual solutions to remedy the problems than concern us: Senator Bernie Sanders.

People of our generation have watched as traditional American values like hard work and thrift have been subverted in the name of Wall Street dividends. What was once called ‘moonlighting’- the occasional second job to make some extra cash- has become the new norm of the ‘side hustle,’ as workers in the gig economy cobble together work to make ends meet. Major banks nickel and dime their customers’ accounts away, and that is to say nothing of the truly predatory players in the industry, like the payday lenders who entice those people struggling to make it to next month. Without paid leave, many in our society are also forced to work while sick — an increasing concern as we deal with public health crises like the coronavirus. Paid parental leave is insufficient or non-existent, sending the message to people that we as a country do not actually value parents.

Since the days of the GI Bill following WWII, college education has been a customary tool of economic mobility- the way working class parents, by saving and sacrifice, could see their children grow to be middle class professionals. The problem is that the cost of tuition has grown faster, much faster, than wages have grown- eight times faster, by some sources- making it impossible for normal people to pony up tuition for a four year degree. Of course there is the option of borrowing. This accounts for the enormous debt load carried by so many young people, who start their careers in a sort of genteel debt peonage, digging out from less-than-zero in an increasingly piecemeal and insecure working world.

If we feel caught in the gears of a profit-making machine, nothing captures this like the American healthcare system. Our employer-based insurance system was created at a time when most families had a primary breadwinner enjoying stable employment. The formerly simple act of going to the doctor has become a running battle against private bureaucracies. Healthcare is an odd business, in that the customer only discovers the cost after service has been provided. (Ask your doctor how much each test, procedure and medicine will cost- turns out there are some things they don’t teach in med school.) Then there is private insurance, odd in its own way in that it is the one business making its money by not providing the service its customers pay for. Most of us would call a business that operates this way ‘a scam’, but in the healthcare sector, they simply call it ‘billing’.

And yes, to say ‘the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer’ is more than just trite cliche. Income inequality is real. According to the Pew Research Center, it is greater than in America than in any of our industrialized allies, and it has been growing for decades. When it comes to billionaires- including those who have used their wealth as leverage to enter politics- we shouldn’t be looking at them as our natural superiors born to solve our problems. Rather, we should expect them to contribute back to the society that has afforded them the opportunity of such a powerful and extravagant life. And our tax system should reflect that.

As a lawmaker, Senator Sanders has a long record as an advocate for working people, rather than the corporations squeezing a few more quarterly dividends whenever possible. Of note to our family is his championing of postal reform bills that would not only keep the Postal Service viable, but include postal banking that would provide basic banking services to those excluded from commercial banks. His Medicare For All proposal would make our healthcare payment system fair and rational, would eliminate the perpetual battle between labor and employers over premiums, and would actually bring medical care within reach of the self-employed, gig-economy workers, and those just out of work in a world of increasing automation. His bill would also provide for mental health care and addiction services for all — something our country desperately and obviously needs. And his proposal for education could help revive the American Dream as something attainable by ordinary hardworking people, not the privileged few. As we raise our son with increasing anxiety for the future, we see in the Sanders platform the America we would want him to inherit.

Real hope is a vision for the future that includes all of us, not simply a ‘return to normal’ that was leaving so many behind, and certainly not a desperate pining for a bygone era of macho values. Bernie Sanders is the one presidential candidate to put forth such a vision, and that is why he has our family’s support in this election.