A Day In the Life of a Single Mother... A Bernie Tale

-by Dorothy Reik

2020 has come and gone. Bernie Sanders has been elected president and served for four years. Backed by a Democratic House and Senate and supported by grassroots activists, his policies had been implemented and the effects on the lives of ordinary Americans is dramatic. The new president, elected in 2024, has promised to follow Bernie's lead.

Debbie's Story

Debbie and her toddler daughter, Tonya, wake up in a two bedroom apartment. Thanks to rent control and an explosion of affordable housing, she and her daughter no longer have to share a bedroom as they did before. Debbie's salary has also increased because, thanks to the caps on executive pay and bonuses, the company’s board used the millions of dollars they would have paid their CEO to pay their employees more, hire additional people and improve working conditions. Also, her student debt has been cancelled.  Debbie is saving the money she used to spend on the payments to use as a down payment on a house. She doesn't have to save for Tonya's college because public colleges are tuition free.

She drops her daughter off at daycare subsidized by the government and staffed by well-paid and trained child care specialists. The daycare provides a healthy lunch for all the children and nutritious snacks during the day, Debbie is relieved that glyphosate has been outlawed along with other dangerous chemicals so she knows the fresh fruits and vegetables her daughter eats there are safe and will not make her sick later in life. Her daughter will also get to play outside where the air is clean due to new regulations, the proliferation of electric cars and public transport, and the capping of the fracking wells that used to function in her neighborhood. She notes that parents at her daycare no longer complain about their children having asthma.

At the office Debbie is treated with respect and courtesy by her superiors and co-workers. She is represented by a union in case she has any work-related issues. She gets regular breaks, and a full hour for lunch-- enough time to go out with her co-workers if she chooses although the company dining room is very pleasant. Because salaries are no longer secret and because it is mandated by law she knows that she is getting the same pay as the other workers who are doing the same work she is.

At 2PM she takes an afternoon of paid family leave to pick up her daughter from daycare and take her to a well baby exam at her local pediatrician. There is no cost because both she and her daughter are covered by Medicare for All.  If her daughter needs medicine or anything else there will be no cost. Debbie also knows that if she herself needs care including eyeglasses and dental work, that too will be provided at no cost.

Tonya gets a clean bill of health so they head to the supermarket. They could walk but they choose the take a electric powered bus with a fare low enough to encourage the use of public transit instead of cars. There is very little traffic so the ride takes only a few minutes. At the market the fruits and vegetables are poison free just as they are at daycare. All foods are clearly marked as to country of origin. Animal products are hormone and antibiotic free and she knows the animals are raised under humane conditions. The packaged foods are clearly labeled so she can easily read the ingredients and the salt, fat and calorie counts.

After dinner she bathes Tonya with what she knows is clean water thanks to more new regulations and puts her to bed in her own room. Global warming has been slowed so she no longer needs to run her air conditioner so Tonya can sleep except very occasionally. Then she goes to her computer which has high speed internet because of a government mandate that guarantees high speed affordable internet to everyone. She pays her bills using her postal online bank account which has no fees unlike the bank she used to use.

Then it's time for Debbie to go to bed. She can watch TV for a while or listen to the radio without fear of waking Tonya! She sets her alarm clock and drifts off to an untroubled sleep knowing Tonya will inherit a livable planet.

Thank you Bernie.