Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., can surely draw a crowd. In the days leading up to April 24, 2024, more than 1600 Harvard affiliates vied for a seat to hear the senator speak at Harvard’s Institute of Politics’ John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. Yet, all 500 attendees sat in near-perfect silence throughout the series of introductions leading to Sen. Sanders’s arrival – intrigue and a palpable tension radiating from the crowd.
If one thing was clear about his remarks at the Forum, it was that the senator was worried. He was making a plea to the public to rise against the issues he views as paramount. Sanders is no stranger to calling for revolution, but a deeper look opens a critique of his expectations for everyday American citizens.
According to Sanders, our country is “moving rapidly toward an oligarchic form of society.” He refers, of course, to the harsh divide between classes in America and growing income inequality: The top 1% of Americans have taken $50 trillion from the bottom 90%.
More specifically, long-term gains and qualified dividends — types of capital income that are taxed less — flow to wealthier people on average. This means that income acquired by the wealthy — typically from stocks — gets taxed less than that of an average American. In addition, due to rapidly growing income inequality, the ratio of taxable income at different percentile levels has staggered: The 25th percentile’s income level has increased very little in contrast to the top 1%. So, are the wealthy going into your homes and taking your savings? No, but they have benefited from $50 trillion dollars worth of income inequality.
To Sanders, the culprits of such pervasive inequality are evident: He implicates “a very small number of incredibly wealthy and powerful people who are significantly increasing their power over both our economic and political systems.” Sanders argues that crippling income inequality affects everyone in the long run – it is not something to be swept under the rug in the minutia of political news. However, is Sanders himself a part of this wealthy elite? Perhaps not, but he is certainly not the first and last lawmaker to have money: In 2019, Forbes estimated the senator’s net worth to be around $2.5 million. The question is whether or not Sanders will have the accountability to take policy action on income inequality, rather than simply using the issue as speech fodder.
Another theme that Sanders addressed in his Forum remarks was the divisive nature of individualism. Defined as the prioritization of personal interests over those of the collective, individualism has become a pillar of American culture due to its association with more opportunities for economic growth.
However, the senator raised concerns that the American Dream has become a twisted version of itself. Having grown up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, Sen. Sanders passionately believes in supporting American workers and rallying support from all Americans to do so. For example, he introduced the Thirty-Two-Hour Workweek Act in March 2024, which aims to decrease weekly working hours while maintaining current wages. Many critics argue the bill is unfeasible in modern-day society as limiting hours will decrease productivity and production. In response, Sanders notes that “this is not a new idea – countries in Europe are moving in that direction.” Embracing a more balanced work culture in the U.S. would help to reduce workers’ stress levels, and allow them time to focus on their mental health and enjoy time with their friends and family. Such basic quality-of-life improvements for workers, Sanders says, is long overdue.
Senator Sanders continued to express his belief in a united movement as a solution, especially amongst the working class: “If the working class is to go forward, we need a strong trade union movement.” He asserts that everyday Americans can only hope to correct the problems created by “people who are extremely powerful and greedy” through a collective effort.
Despite such rhetoric, who is a better example of an individualistic politician than Bernie Sanders? He is well within his right to critique the current American work culture, but it is also important to acknowledge that he benefits from being the “outlier” while remaining within “the system.” In fact, at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Sanders’ speech was almost unforgettable for how in line it was with the new goals of the Democratic Party. He hit all of the points mentioned in his forum speech, and it seems that his progressive nature is now less of a novelty and more of a gimmick – something that adds character to this new political scene.
During his Forum address, Sanders also took the opportunity to tackle the issue of unaffordable healthcare in the U.S. The senator put it quite simply: “You wanna know why people are angry in America? Well, you would be angry if you couldn’t afford healthcare.” In fact, under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance costs an average of $5,040 for a 40-year-old, who earns an average income of $62,244 per year. Such high costs raise a stark contrast to our northern neighbor: Sanders specifically highlighted the universal health system utilized by Canada in their efforts to make healthcare more accessible.
Sanders’s concerns and calls to action seem to underlie a belief that America does not care enough about the political issues that affect it the most. However, public opinion polling appears to challenge this perception. A 2023 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center finds that inflation, affordable healthcare, bipartisan cooperation, drug addiction, and gun violence are top of mind for Americans. The Harvard Public Opinion Project’s Youth Poll echoes these results, specifically for young Americans aged 18-29 years old.
To a certain extent, Sanders’s continuous rallying cries are hypocritical: It is a sign that says “always out, never in” because the issues America views as paramount never take precedence in a policy arena that is allegedly representative. In fact, very few congressional bills were passed in 2023 relating to any of the categories — including healthcare and wage — mentioned by Sanders. This being said, the DNC revealed that there are more progressive policy plans in the mainstream than last April. Time will tell how this plays out in November, and if these promises will remain true, but the same ideal remains central: It is our elected officials who need to pay greater attention, not the general populace.
Progressive politicians like Sanders who claim that ‘the system’ needs radical reform, are often lauded for their outside-the-box thinking. In his Forum speech, Sanders called for a “strong grassroots movement which moves this country in a progressive direction,” which is the type of rhetoric that first bolstered his popularity. Sanders has implied that his end goal is to shift the Democratic Party left, rather than implement pragmatic policy changes from the inside. Given his ‘work with the system, not against it’ approach, it makes sense that the senator turns to civil society to call for change rather than do so himself. That being said, everyday citizens fall victim to continuous calls to action, while those they put in power to conduct actual change fail to do so. After a certain point, these rallying cries can fall flat — as evidenced by his less-than-headliner feature at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
At the end of the day, Bernie Sanders is a politician. He needs the support of the American people as much as we need him and his colleagues to pass policies on pressing issues. However, if your elected officials are not championing the topics you truly care about, support politicians who will and call them out when they do not keep their promises. With the upcoming presidential election, there is a lot for Americans to think about — how they can mobilize their voices for change should be at the top of the list.
So really, Sanders was right: America needs to wake up.
