Why I support Bernie Sanders for president

I support Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for United States president 2016, and not because he is a Jew, that is just an added bonus—although Judaism does contribute to my reasoning as to why I support him.

I believe that individuals should be strengthened above any sort of governmental machine. Individuals should come first, and everything else should be far behind in importance. Life and health should not be just another variable, rather, it should be the decider. I believe that Judaism generally communicates the same principle, through the well-known principle of “pikuach nefesh,” which is the understanding that the saving of a life far supersedes the importance of all other observances.

Based on this principle, from a policy perspective, if a certain policy will contribute to the wellbeing of an individual, there should be no question as to its acceptance. Conversely, if a certain policy practice will threaten the lives or wellbeing of individual members of society, then there should be no question as to its rejection.

So many policies, from opposition to a living wage to opposition to strict regulation in the financial sector, are pushed by stating that the “society” will get better in the “long run.” This “society” excludes people—real people, the people of society. It includes, at its core, a theoretical band of economic merry men who rob the poor to give to the rich in the long run, but John Maynard Keynes sums up the long run nicely, “In the long run, we are all dead.”

Bernie Sanders’s policies support the strength of the people in the here and now—they are not about helping us “realize what’s right” for our future like a toddler in need of parental direction. The government of the United States has for too long not respected its population as human beings—the true aim of both American conservatism and liberalism. Supporting Bernie, for me, has nothing to do with party affiliation or labels. He is the only candidate who is for the people.

Now, why do I, more specifically, support Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton? The reason is because in these important measures of emphasis on the immediate well-being of the individual members of society, she fails, largely because of her corruption. She has too many ties to financial interests and interests that work to keep society as it is, and one cannot deny that she has changed her stated position on so many relevant issues lately.

The ability to “evolve” on issues, cited as a defense for her changing positions, means that it is, even still, a question for her as to if the most important thing to her as potential president of the United States is to be the servant of the collective majority in this country, who have, up until now, had the system rigged against them. Her emphasis is on protecting the special interest groups of society and “getting elected” as much as it is in the protection of the average person, and that is unacceptable.

Bernie Sanders’s emphasis is, far beyond any other topic, firmly centered on protecting only the immediate and tangible interests of the citizens of this nation. He continues to support single-payer healthcare, a living wage, reasonable gun control, the increased availability of education, and positively enforced equal rights for all communities and peoples.

To find more information about Bernie Sanders, please check out his website at berniesanders.com. As one last note, if you are registered to vote, I beg you to please do so. If the citizens do not actually exert their voice through voting, then a preventable outcome may occur that is totally unfavorable to us. The Florida primary is on March 15, and early voting is open now. Go vote!

Caleb R. Newton is a global affairs analyst living in Central Florida and the founder of Global News Breakdown. Find him at Global News Breakdown, Dissecting Society, and the Times of Israel. Contact him at calebrnewton@globalnewsbreakdown.com.