ONE YEAR AGO TODAY...

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY....

I knew about Income inequality and the rising gap between rich and poor, but I didn't know how incredibly dire the situation was and how many people were truly suffering and how it is getting worse... I didn't feel empowered to do anything about it....

I knew only a tiny bit about the greed on Wall Street that played a direct role in the financial collapse of 2008.

I didn't think it was even a remote thought that we could offer tuition free college for everyone...that would have been like proposing that we go to the moon back in 1961. I didn't know that many developed countries (almost all in Europe) offer tuition free college. I just didn't know.

I was completely desensitized to our country's paltry minimum wage and I had never really given thought to the idea that you can't make a living and support a family on 9 bucks an hour....

I thought that proposing a $15 minimum wage would have been a completely unrealistic goal

I knew very little about how Free Trade deals are hurting the American worker

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY....

I would never have imagined that we could put a tax on Wall Street transactions that would pay for college tuition...

I didn't know much about how the quality of life in many countries in Western Europe is much better than ours by virtually all measurable indices...

I didn't know that 23% of children in America under 18 live in Poverty and that is the second highest among the 35 developed countries....

I didn't feel empowered (and now angered) by our countries mass incarceration system that imprisons far too many non violent people and that discriminates against blacks and hispanics far more than against whites...(I am now outraged)

I thought (democratic) Socialism was a totally fringe (and probably Un-American concept) I was wrong.

I didn't realize that a 75 year old bald, Jewish man with no name recognition could inspire and gain the support of almost 80% of Democrat and Independent voters under 29, and 46% of the Democrat primary vote in 2016.

I didn't realize fully that there was an organized and calculated effort by the Republican Party to keep many people (mostly minorities) from voting.

I thought that Democrats were fair and democratic in carrying out their Primary elections.

I didn't understand the Super Delegate scam that is totally contrary to democratic principles.

I didn't know just how corrupt SuperPacs are...

I didn't think it was even remotely possible to wage a Presidential campaign and do it without corporate money and SuperPacs....

I didn't know that Hillary Clinton made closed door Speeches to Wall Street that she received hundreds of thousands of dollars for....

ONE YEAR AGO….

I had some trust in my government..

I didn't know that there was such thing as a truly honest (an unambitious) politician.

I didn't realize how incredibly uninformed is the black voter in this country (in general).

I didn't fully realize how disgusting it is to be a billionaire....and that it is (to me) a sign of mental illness, period! I don't care how many Apps or social media platforms or how many hotels you own or have invented.

And perhaps most disheartening....ONE YEAR AGO I wasn't ashamed to be an American!!

That was ONE YEAR AGO....

The people I credit for what I now know are...in order:

BERNIE SANDERS (a true leader for "real" change)
Robert Reich
Michael Moore (via his film "Where To Invade Next")

I heard nothing of this from:

Hillary Clinton
The Republican Party
and almost nothing of this from President Barack Obama

For those who think that Hillary and Bernie are two peas from the same pod I say that this is a ridiculous assertion...I chide the comparison.

They aren't even of the same species....you can't compare Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton any more than you can compare a Watermelon and a Giraffe....

When I think of Bernie I think of a "brave, new, world..where people in this country actually care if their neighbor is living in poverty, or if they are educated. When I think of Hillary...I think of someone who wants desperately to be President...and she will do everything she can (no holds barred) to get elected.

Think about it...

My Opinions (only).