Bernie Sanders is a 2020 Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party and is currently serving as the U.S. Senator of Vermont. https://berniesanders.com/

Bernie stands tall as one of the famous guests on JRE and the fact that one of the leading presidential candidates for the 2020 US election is spending his time here also says something about the reach JRE has. He only spent an hour with Joe but they made sure to cover a wide range of important topics.

Firstly they spoke on the current debate format in US politics, both agreeing that the short amount of time they get to speak is not enough time to really get across to people what you are about and to explain all the intricacies of the complex matters that are entangled in politics. Joe seemed to be edging towards hinting at a more ‘internet-friendly’ format, like his podcast but Bernie said that isn’t even required, in certain countries they give politicians air time on big TV networks by law. Other countries are already giving their politicians ample time to speak to their people without worrying about getting off one-liners or being attacked by other politicians then being given only 10-15 seconds to respond.

Joe brought up a common perception of Bernie being that people believe he is out to take your money and give it to others, Bernie counters by saying that none of his policies are very radical at all and are already in place in other countries. Mentioned later in the podcast, most of the money needed to implement his policies would be done by taxing Wall Street and the large companies that are getting away with being $0 in tax every year. These companies are already spending money on adds that paint Bernie’s plans in the way they want Americans to perceive them. During the last debate itself they had an add running in the middle of the debate directly speaking against one of his policies, something smells a little fishy when add campaigns like this are being resorted to.

The drug and insurance companies benefit heavily from Americas medical system where they are the only major country to not have guaranteed medical care for all. They pay billions in lobbying to ensure their laws are pushed through and that they then stay in place, politicians are afraid of this big money. Drug companies can charge any price they want, Bernie bought up an example wherein he went to Canada with a collection of people and they got insulin for 1/10th the price. Most countries will regulate the drug prices so that it’s fair enough for the company to stay in business but also affordable for the average person.

It appears as though it shouldn’t be legal for lobbying to affect Americas legal system so heavily.

Another corporate entity related matter is the gigantic companies like Amazon that are getting away with paying $0 in tax via usage of funneling all their revenue through company branches located in other countries where the tax is significantly lower. By ensuring all their profits go through in these other countries and that their US branch remains at a loss each year they avoid being taxed like a regular company. Bernie would like to change the current tax laws to add a VAT that would hold amazon accountable for everything they sell in the US.

297 mass shootings have occurred in 2019, this statistics is insane compared to other first world countries, Joe asked “How can we fix this?”, Bernie didn’t pretend to have a magic answer but he said we have to do the best we can before pointing out that the US has a large amount of guns and also a mental health problem. Perhaps it should be harder for people to get their hands on these guns, perhaps more significant background checks should be implemented before people are given guns.

All in all Bernie seems like a fair candidate for the US, much more appropriate than the current person in office, one of the final topics they spoke on is likely one of the most important, climate change.

Bernie says he believes in the scientists and what they are telling us is that we have 10-15 yrs to move away from fossil fuels before we deal irreversible damage to the planet, the problem with many people regarding climate change is that they wont believe it until they see it, when it will be too late. Not only does America need to think about this but they also need to begin working with other countries and leading the way globally so that we can ensure a better future for our children and grandchildren.

If climate change is ignored on the scale that it currently is then we might just go down as the era of humanity that screwed everyone over. At which point do we realize the responsibility we have for those who will come after us?

Land of Confusion – Genesis

I think a large part of the problem in politics is the mass confusion cast on the people by the cast wealth of media sources all claiming different things, what’s actually the truth? None of us have the time or resources to go out and do scientific experiment ourselves. Perhaps the media should be held accountable for putting out false information, I think once the truth is more easily accessible by the masses we will all move towards a better future together.

This was a good, short podcast and I hope Bernie or another politician like him wins this time around so that America, the leading western nation can lead us by example into a future that secures our safety and health.