First off, I want to say that my response to this is not meant to minimize your concerns, just to offer my perspective as a Bernie supporter. 1. Bernie's plan is to make free tuition available, and to offer a variety of other resources (scholarships, low-interest loans, and so on) to allow anyone to have an equal chance at an education. This page describes his stance in a very polished political-candidate-website way, but the important basic ideas are there: https://berniesanders.com/issues/its-time-to-make-college-tuition-free-and-debt-free/ 2. Universal health care will mean you will have access to any medications, medical/emergency care you need. This doesn't mean extra pills and unnecessary stuff. It means if you were injured, you wouldn't have to worry about how to pay for surgery/pain meds or whatever other care you might need - your government would provide you that basic human right. 3. Honestly, I don't know enough about the gas industry to say much about this. What I do know is that Bernie's work in other areas (health care, education, and higher taxes on the wealthy, and so on) will mean you won't be spending as much on other things, so the gas prices will be more manageable. The goal is to eventually get to a place where we won't need gas because we'll find more sustainable sources of energy. 4. Raising the minimum wage will also bump the salaries in higher paying jobs (they'll have to rise to keep up with the change in the economy). 5. While it's true that immigrants take jobs by working for less, that isn't the source of the issue. If minimum wages are raised and apply to ~all~ workers, not just US citizens, it won't work that way any more. Citizens and immigrants will earn the same amount, so they will have a fair share of the job pool. I know this is idealistic, but it's tackling the real issue of pay inequality head-on, instead of putting all the blame on the immigrants. Employers should be in charge of making sure pay is equal, not employees. 6. The tax increase won't be flat - not really. The rich will pay MUCH more, and those with lower-income will pay for the less significant tax increases with the extra money they've earned (#4) and saved (#1 and #2). The point is, you will pay more, but it will be much more manageable than it is now. 7. More taxes = more government agencies, including police. Also, legalizing marijuana and other things that really shouldn't be crimes will allow the police to focus on the real dangers, instead of going in search of people they can arrest just to get a pay bonus. Police arrest people for nonviolent crimes because the drug war policies mean they get rewarded better for that than they do for dealing with actual dangers. The whole system needs to be fixed. 8. First off, you will be able to get a college education, should you choose to. If not, you will be able to pay for the things that you need because you'll earn more. Employers will need to hire just as many people even if it costs them more, and won't be able to pay immigrants less. 9. I don't know any Bernie supporter who actually hates the uneducated.. That type of person sounds like a bigoted asshole. Not everyone gets the same opportunities, so most of people who aren't educated just never got the chance. I don't think that's fair, especially in a country that is built on the idea of equal opportunities..
We don't hate you - we hate Trump. We don't understand why anyone would want to lower taxes on the rich and start a war with Mexico... Bernie isn't the best, but frankly, look at the lovely bunch we get to choose from! (I'm moving to Australia ;D)