I’m going to create a list of numbers and percentages. Read the numbers, and think about what they represent.
Are these numbers big?
Do they represent me?
Do they represent someone I know?
Do they represent someone I go to school with?
Do they represent someone I work with?
Do they represent someone in my family?
44 million
700,000+
56%
50 million
988
414,000+
180
51%
800,000
I hope you analyzed those numbers. Here’s what they mean:
44 million without health insurance
About 700,000 are homeless
56% of college students who can’t continue to pay their tuition
50 million who experience food insecurity
988 killed by police
414,000+ died from COVID
180 school shootings in the past 10 years
51% of women are sexually assaulted
800,000 dead from suicide
What do you do with this information? Think. Think about how these are people living in a country that’s supposed to create equal opportunity for all. Most of these people have to worry about their health or if they can pay the hospital bill. Before I continue I want you to think to yourself “do people deserve to live like this?”
After you thought about it, keep it in the back of your mind while you read. Have an open mind about some of the things I’m going to talk about.
What Americans are ready for.
Americans are ready for change. 69% of Americans support Medicare for All, 76% of Americans want states to provide free tuition for college, and a 2019 poll showed 59% of Americans want gun control. These are all issues that meet the bare minimum, but there are many things in the way that are preventing progressive ideas from passing through.
The issue starts with who we are electing into public office. Whether these elected officials are local or even the President of the United States. These issues are troubling considering we live in a place where all people can vote, so there are people with different opinions. But there are ways to defeat people who are trying to stop the progressive agenda.
Since Americans are ready for more progressive stances, we need to elect progressives at the lower level. People who will serve as mayors or even congresspeople. Elect people who want to serve the people and only the people. The next house elections are in 2022, and the same with the senate.
Who is Getting in the Way?
I don’t want to put any labels on anyone, but, there are a bunch of people who do believe in more traditional values. People who don’t want to move forward with America. These people are hanging on by a thread considering what the majority of people want, but somehow they squeeze their way into every issue.
These people, mainly elected officials, stop the process of things passing through to help America and the people who live here. But why are they doing this? For the sake of being neutral, let’s just say that they believe if America stays its traditional way that it can only be good. If there are no changes to the country, then nothing bad can happen, right? Wrong.
Places like America have to move forward. As more people go to college they will soon make opinions on their own. Many people who do end up going to college do believe in a more progressive agenda, there’s just no way for America to stay “traditional” while people continue to move forward with what they believe in. It’s also impossible to stay traditional because we have to continue to move forward. Take the Civil Rights Movement for example. Black people decided enough was enough and stood up for themselves so they could be treated equally. Those people at the time were considered progressives and radicals. And the people who were against it overlooked all the issues to try and keep America “traditional.”
Are Progressive Ideas Realistic?
The term progressive has been used throughout history. Women who marched for equal voting rights, progressive. Black people who marched for equality, progressive. People who are part of the LGBTQ+ who marched for equal rights, progressive. The people who fought for equality were progressives and believe in equality for all.
Wanting healthcare for everyone is considered progressive because it goes against “traditional” America. You are taught to work for all the things you need in life, including health insurance. But many people are born into situations where they simply can not accomplish the same things as people who are born into wealth. But is giving healthcare for all realistic?
Of course, it’s realistic. America does have the funding to do it, all we have to do is rearrange our money that we spend and put it towards more important things, such as healthcare. A lot of people who don’t agree with this are nervous that they will be taxed more, this could hurt the economy, and that the medical treatment won’t be as good. These are good and genuine concerns, but they are easily debunked. It’s just as simple as redirecting government spending and a little rise in taxes. Yes, your taxes will be raised, but you would spend less on healthcare. Spending money on medicare for all would save about 2 trillion dollars over the ten years.
Is Progression Socialism?
No, they are not the same thing. Socialism is an economic theory, the theory that the wealth should be distributed by the workers. Socialism is also a step into communism. Progressive ideas and socialism do not go together. Often times people will hear things like “Social Democrat” and think they are socialists when they are not. People like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are social democrats.
These social democrats are progressive. They believe in progressive ideas like Medicare For All and free college. People hear these things and think that they are a step towards socialism when that’s really not the case. No candidate has ever campaigned on real socialist values. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just want the country to progress to things like healthcare and free college so people have equal opportunities.
There is really no reason to be afraid that America would become a socialist/communist country when even people like Bernie Sanders aren’t socialist. At the end of the day, these people just want America to move forward as a country and serve the people as individuals. They believe healthcare is a right and so is free college.
Wrap it up.
I hope you enjoyed what I wrote. I hope you keep in mind that there are Americans suffering daily, especially during the pandemic. No one deserves to go hungry, no one deserves to live without health insurance, no one deserves to not go to college because it’s too expensive, and no one deserves to lose a loved one over something America can help prevent.
I wanted to write this because these are issues I care about. I was born into families that love me, who can feed me, buy me clothes, help me get an excellent education, take me on trips, give me health insurance, and teach me how to love others. I realize how there are people who are less fortunate than me, but instead of being selfish, advocating and learning how to help is how I want to be.
So instead of being selfish about your taxes, realize that there are people who are suffering in a nation that’s supposed to be great. Keep an open mind about these issues.
Sources That Helped Me
Photo by: @jasoncandrew on Instagram
Very good Kendra!! Nicely writing. Very splendid.👍
That was terrific Kendra!
I really like the distinction you drew between progressive and socialist. Unfortunately (or not) the term socialism has been demonized to the point that it becomes a nonstarter for many people. “Progressivism” makes that point moot and gives these/your ideas room to breathe.
As you stated, the points you raise are appreciated by a lot more than one group, but rather a majority of Americans. Perhaps they will see this with a Progressive agenda.
Fight the good fight!
Fantastic. Very well written, and thought out.