Know Your Candidate #5 - Jill Stein

Welcome to Know Your Candidates, a fresh weekly feature here on Change and Cherish Blog that gives you the chance to learn about presidential candidates you may know nothing about! The feature maintains this blog's vision of ensuring that every voice is heard and that every light has the opportunity to shine. Major news networks fail to consider these things when they insist on focusing on controversial or purely entertaining candidates.

Let's Meet ... Jill Stein!

According to Jill's candidacy website Jill Stein for President (click here to see more), she wants to focus on economics and quality of life as her platform. This is laid out in eleven steps.

First, Jill wants the nation to use 100% clean renewable energy by 2030.

Second, Jill wants to make employment a right instead of a privilege.

Third, Jill wants to ensure that every American has access to the bare essentials.

Fourth, Jill wants to make health care a right instead of a privilege.

Fifth, Jill wants to abolish student debt and make education more accessible to the public.

Sixth, Jill wants to create a just economy by raising minimum wages and breaking up big corporations, among other things.

Seventh, Jill wants to create a global treaty that will halt climate change.

Eighth, Jill wants to ensure that everyone has the right to speak and nobody is discriminated against.

Ninth, Jill wants to cut all secretive and/or brutal governmental practices.

Tenth, Jill wants to create a foreign policy built on diplomacy instead of warfare.

Eleventh, Jill wants to give everyone suffrage.

Now, this is just a summary of Jill's platform as detailed on her campaign website. I would recommend visiting OnTheIssues.org (click here for that link) to learn more.

What's My Opinion?

In the end, my opinion about Jill shouldn't matter squat. What does matter is that you need to go out and research these candidates yourself. Find out if you like these people, and then help them succeed!

I did like what Jill had to say, but of the three and a half other candidates I've spotlighted, I think she confused me the most. I guess I've always assumed that Americans already have the right to free speech and suffrage, so I didn't really understand why she felt like those were issues worth mentioning. Sure, I know there's a lot of discrimination out there, but it's not like that same discrimination is currently legal. Also, I wondered about her green energy plan for 2030. Even if she gets elected for two terms, she would still need six more years to see that project come to fruition, and who says her successor would take it the rest of the way?

Anyway, what do you think? Be sure to comment below!