Letter to Sanders supporters
Dear Bernie Sanders supporters.
Some of you have said you would not vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the US general elections in November. I have to say, you have a problem. I am not talking about Bernie supporters in general, as I am also a big Bernie supporter, but I am talking to those, few that have decided to be a caricature of the “Bernie Bros.”
Making change is not always about revolution.
I love Bernie and I am a big supporter. He has won the hearts and minds of people, and that is just as important as winning actual votes.
However, trying to influence potential voters against Clinton because she is not your ideal candidate is as dangerous as sitting quietly while Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump makes perilous comments against all that we stand for.
I emphasize “we” as most Sanders and Clinton supporters have the same goals. Sanders and Clinton have similar policies and they are much better than the US Republican platform. Clinton might not be as trustworthy as Sanders, might not be as likable and definitely belongs to the 1 percent compared with the populist representation of Sanders, but she would guide the US toward a brighter and more hopeful future than the Sophie’s Choice of Trump and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz.
Clinton might not be a revolutionary, but she would not be like Trump or Cruz. Clinton might be more “status quo” than Sanders, but I would rather take small steps to improve the “status quo” (such as with US President Barack Obama’s and Clinton’s policies) any day against the extreme US Republican platform.
Believe in the message.
Sanders supporters should definitely have passion for him. Clinton supporters should also have passion for Sanders. He has achieved beyond his own expectations compared with when he first began. He has made Clinton a much better candidate. He has stoked passion to change an unfair system. Although he is not the vehicle for the change, he represents all of us in our journey to a better future.
I truly hope Sanders stays in until June, as his message and his campaign make Clinton a much better candidate, whether it is pushing Clinton’s policies or making her put effort into her campaign in all 50 US states. Sanders should also try to secure a key night during the US Democratic Convention to bring his message as well as unity to the party so Trump can be defeated.
Trump has brought out the worst in some Americans and he has shown what the US could denigrate to. Instead of being blind idealists and saying things like “I’m not voting for Hillary if Bernie doesn’t win,” it is important that people come together to show what the US is and would still be — a beacon of greatness and hope for generations to come.
Joshua Chengyung Fu
Taipei
Manufacturing for survival
In 1970, I brought the minicomputer industry to Taiwan, training thousands of engineers in the field. The IT industry took root and was the driver of industry in Taiwan for decades. Today it seems to be coming to a halt.
We need major breakthroughs in innovative products. And that cannot happen as long as the education system relies on rote learning and passing examinations. It stifles creativity. It has to start from the very basics: the family.
I have a daughter who attended local schools from kindergarten to graduate school. The whole time I fought the system, forbidding her from doing all her holiday homework to give her more time to play, or from joining a buxiban so she would have time to do what she enjoyed. It did not stop her from receiving a master’s degree in engineering from the National Taiwan University.
As long as Taiwan keeps creating robots in its education system, it will be forced to rely on low-end manufacturing for survival.
We need a revolution in education.
Pierre Loisel
New Taipei City
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