I’ll have to admit, I never thought that I would go this far.
I’m 19, but I’ve been disillusioned by the political process from a very early age. When I was younger, I was involved in some youth leadership government programs that really deterred me from politics and government. I swore it off by the age of 16 and vowed never to vote, never to participate, never to do anything because fuck society and fuck institution and fuck bipartisanship and fuck the negativity of the political climate in the US. FUCK EVERYTHING.

A few months ago, I started hearing about Bernie Sanders. This was around March. I slowly heard more, and agreed. For the first time in my life, I could emotionally identify with a political candidate. Bernie channeled not anger, but hopeful disappointment. That is, he knew the evils of the Congress, he knew the evils of lobbying, he knew the evils of our government and he worked hard to fight against it. His hope, his FUCKING hope. It’s contagious. It’s irresistible.

So many times, whenever a video about Trump or Carson or some other Republican clown popped up on my Facebook newsfeed, I felt that same disappointment. But it was resigned. I was okay with letting it happen, because I expected it. Because this feeling of disappointment was normal for me.

But everytime, every goddam time I watched a clip of Bernie spitting some political fire or chastising the corruption, the evils, the bullshit politics of our world, I felt that hope. I felt every single drop of hope in his rhetoric. I felt it. It resonated like an echo in my heart, bouncing off of my tender and vulnerable psyche. For the first time, for the first time EVER, I felt true hope.

But even though I felt that hope, that heartfelt, untethered passion, there was a voice in my head telling me not to support. NOT to help. NOT to volunteer. Because if Bernie lost and I had given my all, then institution would win. Then Hillary Clinton would win. Then some crony piece of shit immoral politician would propagate the cycle of corruption that breeds hatred in the masses.
Fuck that. Fuck that.

I was scrolling down this subreddit earlier today and I broke down in tears. Goddamit.
I’m going to do everything in my power to help Bernie Sanders be elected. I’m going to do every damn thing I can do, expend every tool at my disposal, to help him become elected.

This is what Bernie Sanders does to people. His legacy is undeniable, regardless of his electability. It’s time to act. It’s time to immerse ourselves in the process. I’ve seen the evils of this world for far too long. I’ve spit hateful vitriol at it. I’ve cursed at the world around us, pathetically complaining about how horrible the conditions of existence were.

By not acting, I’m allowing the evil to perpetuate itself. I’m allowing these fuckface-spineless rightwinged sociopaths to get the power they want. I’m allowing liars and self-delusional narcissists such as Hillary Clinton to create more establishment deals with big corporations, all the while lying to the American public about how “she cares about the average American”. Hillary Clinton is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. So benign. So innocuously deceitful. Go cater to your focus groups you conservative hag.

This anger within me has brewed, stirred, and festered. My only release is realizing Bernie’s election. My only release from this agony, over my institutional isolation, over my institutional oppression, over the institutionalized institutional lies is picking up your signs and protesting against this illiberal hegemony that hides under the guise of “democracy”.

Fuck that. Fuck that.
The time is now. I’ve just signed up to volunteer for his campaign. I’m going to go door to door in my neighborhood to fight. I’m going to call for at least an hour everyday to fight. I’m going out to my college campus to talk to strangers, to fight. I’m going to talk to the old ladies at the supermarket, to fight.

But I won’t be fighting with the same agonizing pain of my condition, as I used to torment from before. I’m fighting with the vicissitudes of willpower, each tendril causing wave after wave of validation, of purpose, of undeniable hope.

This is it. I’ve been converted. Not as a Bernie Sanders supporter (I’ve been a Bernie Sanders supporter from before my birth), but as a political agent. I’ve been converted from a pathetic, hateful, loathing bystander, into an active participant of the process – the political process.
This movement you’ve created – that we’ve created – is far more than an election or a campaign. This movement is the new era of politics in the United States. This movement is the salvation I’ve been desperately yearning for. This movement is a cultural phenomenon – be proud of what WEVE accomplished so far.
This is it. This is it. This is IT. The time is now. This campaign acts as a platform for the average American to become engaged in our world, to have an effect against institution, to fight against Wall Street cronies.
Fight with hope, for hope has converted even me, who once thought that all hope was extinguished.