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Boston for Bernie: Heath Care

One day three, I spent more of my time doing administrative work and volunteer coordination at the office. This gave me an opportunity to get to know some of the staff and volunteers who are devoting all of their time to this. Some of them have quit their jobs and are hopping from state to state. Others are volunteering full-time at the same time as working a full-time job. The level of commitment is unlike anything I’ve seen. They all have different stories and backgrounds but are united by their disdain for the status quo and their hope for a future of uncorrupted politics. Americans do seem to usually have an idyllic view of Canada. Many think our health care system is fully public, when in reality it omits several crucial areas of care. Others think highly of Justin Trudeau, when in reality he is a climate criminal who is continuing Canada’s legacy of colonialism. Some think that our electoral system is fair, when in reality it is nowhere near proportional, and mak...
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Boston for Bernie: Climate Crisis

Day two was very exciting. I started the day at 7AM by talking with commuters outside of the subway station. Lots of people seemed excited about Bernie and I got almost no negative responses. The online world is so hostile, and I expected a lot more disapproval, but in person the people are a lot more reasonable and willing to engage.  It is difficult for me to concisely explain why I support Bernie in that setting. For me, my go-to issue is the climate emergency. As a young person, with another 50+ years left on this planet, I have some authority when I explain how Bernie is the only candidate who will give me a liveable future.  My whole life, I've been taught to pretend that the future will be just like the past. I can have kids, work 9-5 for some big company, and grow old and retire, just like my grandparents and parents did. This is patently untrue. In the next 50 years, there will be massive food and water shortages, uninhabitable heat in much of the...
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Boston for Bernie: Electability

One of my favourite conversations from my first day of canvassing was with a young woman named Sharon from Cambridge. She was very concerned about the electability of the eventual Democratic nominee. As a disclaimer, I personally don’t really prioritize electability. I’m an independent socialist, and I don't buy into the mantra of ‘Vote Blue No Matter Who.' There’s so much more to do than to beat Trump. The world has been falling apart for decades under both party’s leadership. While it isn’t my priority, in this situation my job was to convince this woman that Bernie could perform on her number one issue. He has a very strong electability argument, and it’s important to communicate it, especially to those voters who like Bernie, but feel uncertain about his chances against Trump. She began the conversation firmly in the camp of Amy Klobuchar, who she reasoned had a good argument for beating Trump due to her moderate policies, which could appeal to the more moderate ...
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Iran (January 6th)

The developments in Iran have pissed me off more than anything I can remember. Here are my thoughts. This might all seem a bit disorganized, because there’s so much to talk about. Not only did Trump assassinate a foreign official, but people in media and the democratic “opposition” party have been spineless and cowardly in their response to this war crime. Suleimani was an extremely popular figure in Iran, and an attack on him is clear call for war. Justifying the action by saying that Suleimani is a bad guy and deserved to be killed is only valid under the assumption that the US should be allowed to go around and kill anybody they deem to be a bad person. Dick Cheney is a bad person. John Bolton is a bad person. Neocons like them have caused an obscene amount of terror worldwide. If we want to rid ourselves of terrorism, we shouldn’t look farther than ending the gross imperialist forces that are ingrained in US foreign policy. After the attack, Trump threatened Iran with attacks on...
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