Growing up in the US, with a broken two party system, we were taught that you could either vote for the lesser of two evils or throw your vote away on a third party candidate you actually believed in. It’s a version of “freedom” that’s been hijacked by corporations and lobbyists, where politicians work for their donors instead of their voters. As much as we champion being top dog of the free world, it feels like we are being held hostage.

There have been glimpses of light at the end of that tunnel, where someone like Ron Paul or Ralph Nader could come along and impact an election without really standing a chance at being elected… and then in 2016 two things happened that finally snapped the neck of our dying democracy.

One is that Trump forced the GOP to its inevitable conclusion of overt racism and classism, where it no longer hides behind bad policies like trickle down economics. They are finally able to act like the outright pieces of shit they are with no cover up necessary. The demons have shed their human costumes.

Second is that Bernie’s grassroot effort didn’t stop when he lost the (rigged) Democratic nomination to Clinton, instead his people doubled-down on state and local elections, helping the progressive agenda continue building strength and forcing the Democratic Party to start reckoning with the actual frustration of its base. (Bernie backers also helped Clinton win the popular vote by over 3 million votes, which is still insane to me four years later).

But the real kicker is that Bernie’s still an independent senator from Vermont, that runs as a Democrat to stand a shot at actually winning the presidency. It’s a perfect condemnation of our broken, gerrymandered process and the first time a candidate who has a shot at winning is also the person my conscious would prefer to vote for.

The common complaint I hear is that his goals are too liberal and will never get passed to law, but that’s not really the point. Politics is supposed to be a dance where everyone (ideally) has to make some concessions to make forward progress, but the right has stomped our toes on purpose. They refuse to meet in the middle. Instead of letting a solid moderate judge go to the Supreme Court, they blocked a vote until Obama was out of office, allowing Trump a chance to stack the Court with a piece of shit we not have to deal with until he drinks himself into a stupor and drives off a bridge. They also refused to have a fair trial (with witnesses giving testimony) before acquitting an impeached president.

We can’t pursue incremental policies in the face of an opponent who just burps in our face or makes a fart noise in response. That would be like a Prius playing chicken with a train; the GOP is locked to a set path and at this point is unable to change if they wanted; it’s up to us to veer left and drive towards safety. We won’t even make a dent if we crash into them head first.

Bernie is the only one running who’s saying why not veer left and pointing to every other developed country that’s already done it and is better off for it. As much as I liked Warren in the early stages, her plan is to basically leave one tire on the tracks, which will still probably kill us. Most others want to pull the handbrake, spin around Fast and Furious stylee, and be pushed by the train straight towards corporate fascism.

So, that’s why I’m for Bernie. Its why you’ll see me wearing his awesome beanie and carrying a “not me us” bag with me everywhere I go. It’s why I’ll wade into awkward political discourse when I know you can’t use logic to change someone’s mind in the 21st century. It’s why I’ll stick a sign in my lawn, a magnet on my car, and even join the texting army to annoy you as primary elections creep up.

We have a shot at saving ourselves. It’s life or death, and I’m saying “please choose life.” Please, choose Bernie.