BERNIE SANDERS Is What Happens When a Hippie Gets Old But Never Grows Up
When I was a kid I used to wonder what hippies would look like when they got old.
Most grew up as they grew old and the most notable of those parlayed their communication skills into book deals and became wealthy.
Bernie Sanders is one old hippie who never grew up. He trimmed his hair, put on a suit, and moved to Vermont in 1968; but remained loyal to his leftist ideals.
Vermont, by the way, is the epitome of whitopia. The state is 95.5 percent white and only 1.2 percent black. Sanders is safely snug in demographic igloo where he is insulated from the harsh realities of urban crime. It is from that vantage point the he openly boasts of his anti-racism.
His adopted state is, apparently, populated with old white hippies. Like Sanders they embrace the socialism that thrives in mostly white Nordic countries. The hipsters’ favorite themes are income inequality, universal healthcare, parental leave, climate change, and LGBT rights. None, however, care to move to blighted urban communities where they can redistribute their white privilege.
Sanders was born to Jewish immigrant parents in 1941. His political intrigue was piqued at an early age. He recalls, “A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932. He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6 million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.”
Sanders hopes to outdo Adolph Hitler.
After graduating high school the hipster headed off to Chicago where he enrolled in the University of Chicago and joined the Young People’s Socialist League, an affiliate of the Socialist Party of America.
He was a mediocre student, he recalled, being bored with class lectures. Sander found his mind more stimulated through working with the civil rights movement. He was a student organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Student Peace Union while attending the University of Chicago; all quintessential cycle-and-hammer groups.
Sanders abandoned Chicago’s victims of free-market capitalism, favoring the fields and farms — and whiteness — of New England.
Finding work seemed easy for Sanders. Staying employed was more of a challenge. He occupied his time as a carpenter, filmmaker and writer. One report said he even created far-left filmstrips to brainwash young people. Among his works is a 30-minute documentary about American Socialist leader and presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs.
In the 1970s he entered politics, vying with other middle-aged white Vermont hippies for various elected positions including governor and U.S. Senator. He lost.
In 1981, at the age of 40, Sanders received his first steady paycheck after being elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont. He won by ten votes.
Sanders openly embraced socialism and was twice re-elected by slim margins.
His major accomplishment was attracting a minor baseball team, ironically called the Vermont Reds. He also recorded a folk album titled We Shall Overcome with 29 white-privileged Vermont musicians and one token negro. We’re not certain what they were overcoming.
In 1990 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, being labeled by the Washington Times as the first socialist in decades. Sanders began brushing his gray hair forward in a Romanesque fashion, apparently to hide his bald spot. He became a U.S. Senator in 2007 after serving 16 years in the House.
Sanders was married in 1964. His wife was apparently unhappy with her husband’s impoverished lifestyle. Deborah Shiling left Sanders and his dirt-floor cabin. Nine months after smooching with his new girlfriend, Sanders became the proud father of a son, Levi Sanders. In 1988, Sanders married Jane O’Meara Driscoll to whom he remains married. His wife served as president of Burlington College and provided the couple with income.
MoneyNation.com says Sanders net worth is over $500,000. The net worth of the average single black American woman, by comparison, is $5.
Image: Bernie Sanders via photopin (license)