Bernie Won

April 8th, 2020

I voted in the Wisconsin primary election yesterday. I voted for Bernie Sanders. I’m not sure why I did that. I don’t even like Bernie. I sincerely doubt that he will ever be President. I am almost certain that Biden got more votes in the primary than Sanders.

Bernie won anyway.

For months now, actually for years, people having been screaming that Sanders is a socialist (which, of course, he is). Being that he is a socialist, it seems that to many people he is clearly un-American, and that his policies would undermine the very foundations of our great country.

These folks need to take a look around them.

The Congress and the President just recently passed and implemented an economic rescue program that costs over two trillion dollars. After a week or two, they have decided that it’s not enough money, and now they want to go back to the well and draw out another 250 billion.

How does this look any different from socialism?

There are now Federal loans/grants for small businesses so that they keep employees on the books. Federal students loans are suspended through September. President Trump has said that the Federal government will pay hospitals for COVID -19 treatment. Soon millions of people will start getting checks from the Federal government to keep the economy afloat, at least for a while.

Hmmmmmm…

All of this makes Franklin Roosevelt look like Ayn Rand.

I’m not saying that these programs are wrong or unnecessary. I just find the situation to be a little ironic. The Republicans (some of them) used to be fiscal conservatives. No more. They compete with the Democrats to see who can spend money the quickest. It’s funny in a twisted sort of way.

I guess what really amuses me is that some people believe that, once the virus is under control, everything will return to “normal”. I think not. This crisis is a unique event, and there is no unringing that bell. Certainly, there will be some reaction, some push back. But it will never return to the status quo. Temporary changes often become permanent.

As an example, millions of people are now working from home. Many of these workers were toiling in offices until quite recently. Are they all going back to their cubicles when this show is done? No. Work life for many folks has radically and forever changed. How does that transformation affect things like vehicular traffic? How does affect home life? What are other ramifications?

There is definitely at least one dark side to this Brave New World. I am thinking about our basic rights as citizens. I would like to see the Bill of Rights put back into practice at some point. I miss little things like Freedom of Assembly and Freedom of Religion. I seriously wonder if those foundations of our republic are also collateral damage from this crisis.

Come November, it might not matter that much if Biden wins or if Trump wins.

Bernie already won.