Bernie Sanders: Go To College Or Go To Jail!

bernie sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders–Hillary Clinton’s biggest challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination–seems to think you have two choices in this world: go to college, or go to jail.

In a curious tweet on Sunday, Sanders posted:

“At the end of the day, providing a path to go to college is a helluva lot cheaper than putting people on a path to jail.”

The backlash was quick: aren’t there other options for the American people, rather than the two extremes? Can’t law-abiding people not go to college? And, for that matter, aren’t there some college graduates roaming the halls of America’s prisons?

Twitchy.com, the conservative news site started by blogger Michelle Malkin, quickly gathered a load of tweets slamming Sanders for his ridiculous assumptions:

One Twitter user asked, “So you are saying that those who don’t attend college are on a path to jail?”

Another asked: “So college or jail? Those are the only choices? Seems pretty limited.”

One more was especially blunt: “Because everyone that doesn’t go to college will likely end up in jail? Take your meds Bernie.”

And some even resorted to dark humor: “Because nothing is as punishing to criminals as having a worthless degree.”

Sanders, who is a favorite of the limousine liberal establishment but has seen his candidacy strongly protested by the less wealthy branches of the Democratic Party, seems to buy into the idea that every American should go to college–lest they become a failure who is destined for jail.

But in a world where thousands of liberal arts major struggle to gain a toehold in the workforce–as many well-paying jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, like a welder or a plumber, struggle to find any talent to hire, it’s clear that Sanders’ view of the world is skewed. And it may, ultimately, be causing students to take on unnecessary debt for an education they simply don’t need.

Candice has almost 20 years of experience reporting for various conservative publications. When she's not writing, she enjoys being outdoors--especially camping, hiking, and hunting. She lives in Harrisburg, PA, with her husband.