The United States is in the process of electing a new president to lead us into the future. As part of this process, it is important to look at our past to find information and inspiration as to how we should act and what policies we should implement in certain situations. This is exactly what Bernie Sanders has done.
Our country has been through many ups and downs and has had some exceptional leaders at various points in our history. Wikipedia has generated a matrix showing average scores from multiple sources listing the greatest presidents of all time. The top three presidents based on this matrix are Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George Washington in that order. FDR was elected in a time of great income inequality and is a perfect source for information and inspiration regarding what should be done to help us move into the future.
FDR became president by defeating incumbent republican Herbert Hoover in 1933 during the heart of the Great Depression. He implemented many social policies under his “New Deal” program and was president at the start of World War II. He was elected president for a record four terms and died while in office serving his forth term.
Many of his policies implemented under The New Deal (Social Security, minimum wage, unemployment compensation, major tax reform for the wealthy, Glass-Steagall, a massive public works program, among others) were at the time considered “socialist” but set the framework to start the recovery from the Great Depression. They are policies that have set us apart from areas of the world with massive corruption and ineffective labor laws.
During the Great Depression, income inequality in America was the worst it had ever been.
But after the implementation of the New Deal policies, income inequality began to decline up until the implementation of “Reaganomics,” which was anchored by lowering the tax rates on the wealthy and corporations. Now, inequality is back up to those all-time levels.
Sanders is proposing to fight the similar injustices we saw during the great depression by using tried and true methods that were effective in restoring economic justice to this great nation. We currently have an economy with CEO wages and stock market indices at all time highs while the median American male worker is making $1,500 less annually than they were 40 years ago.
Sanders is proposing to strengthen the programs that made possible the American Dream which is becoming decreasingly achievable today. He wants to strengthen and expand Social Security, increase the minimum wage to at least keep up with inflation, increase taxes on the wealthy and corporations, reform Wall Street, rebuild our nations’ infrastructure, among other things.
In defense of his policies, Sanders said:
“Against the ferocious opposition of the ruling class of his day, people he called economic royalists, Roosevelt implemented a series of programs that put millions of people back to work, took them out of poverty, and restored our faith in government. He redefined the relationship of the federal government to the people of our nation. He combated cynicism, fear and despair. He reinvigorated democracy. He transformed the country, and that is what we have to do today.”
These are not radical ideas. They are ideas that have worked in the past and need to be implemented again to keep up with the times. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel but we also cannot continue on our current path and expect the income inequality issues to fix themselves. It may be time to look to history and follow in the footsteps of one of our country’s greatest presidents. It may be time to elect the next great president, Bernie Sanders.
Featured Image Courtesy of: NYmag.com and history.com
