title:  Bernie Sanders Asks One Question: The Response Is Both Chilling And Powerful (VIDEO)
text: During a campaign event in Iowa Falls, Iowa on Monday, Bernie Sanders asked the people in the crowd to hear their experiences on what it is like to live on a $12,000 dollar a year income. The response from one woman is both chilling and powerful.Here is part of one woman s response: It s so hard to do anything to pay your bills, you re ashamed all the time when you can t buy presents for your children it s really, really, really hard   and I work 3, 4, 5 jobs sometimes, always minimum wage, I have a degree, divorced and it s just I m waiting for disability to come through so my parents have to support me   it s just hard. Bernie Sanders responds, saying: It is not easy for people to stand up and say that but the truth is that until millions of people who are experiencing what you re experiencing do say that we don t make change. You can watch the entire exchange below:The right-wing has done everything in their power to make poverty shaming as acceptable as racism has historically been. Currently, the default attack on the poor is to claim that they only want free stuff. It s a slightly more de-racialized way of calling people welfare queens.That s why it can be extremely hard for poor people to come forward with stories of their personal struggles. They have been subjected to the dogma of homo economicus their entire lives. They have a tendency to see themselves as failures, rather than the people living in an economic system that was built for them to survive, not for them to prosper.In the same way that the movement during the queer liberation movement was largely successful because it encouraged people to come out of the closest and make some noise, so to the poor must tell their stories of struggle. They must demand that their existence and struggle be heard, and to refuse to allow themselves to be dehumanized by the forces that wish to exploit them.Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr 