They'll find out soon enough there ain't no such thing as free lunch.

Hi Sarah,
Great question!

I agree with most of what everyone has replied to this post. But since you are in high school, I would love to hear from you. What you see & believe to be the reasons for this support?

Ed

Thank you everyone for contributing! I ask this because I know some incredibly book smart young people who are supporting Sanders, and I think the causes you all listed definitely contribute to their disillusionment.

Also the young tend to make decisions based on emotion, not logic and reason. Some have wisdom and exceptional critical thinking skills beyond their age but the majority do not. I think that has been true since the beginning of human history.

And they can prove that they understand the value of individual liberty and personal responsibility, and understand why free markets work and government manipulated markets never work. (Of course, these stipulations must apply to all potential voters.)

Excellent question Sarah. Someone who is 18-20 years old would have been 10-12 when the '08 collapse took place. Going thru government indoctrination in the public school system they were probably told repeatedly the cause was Capitalism. Many, as they grew up, watched their families ripped apart by rising unemployment and a tanking economy while the wealthiest received bail outs from the Government. My guess is that Socialism is the natural alternative to fix what they perceive to be the problem.

Particularly "free" college education.

A valid reason for modifying the 26th amendment to allow 18 year olds to vote only if they are employed full time or serving in the military.

Indoctrination via public education (K-12 and college level as well);
Scant of knowledge of their.and their nations, history and their rights as Americans.
Moral ambiguity and Cultural equivalence (siren song of socialism)
A deliberately constructed dismal future outlook combined with stories from Mom and Dad about how much better things were when they were kids
They've been steered into carrying the yoke and will not understand that reality until it firmly fastened.
Ive fought this battle with society my entire life for my kids. College has been the roughest. At best I raise social outcasts.

Possible reasons:
1. They at least partly believe progressive candidates are more open to new ideas.
2. There's not a viable alternative that argues against gov't intrusiveness.
3. They support them because they think policies that look socialistic on the surface are actually more efficient ways to deal with problems. For example, taxpayers paying for someone else's job training sounds socialistic, but if in some instance it's proven to reduce taxpayers paying for the criminal justice system, there's a selfish reason to support it.
4. People believe it's a good idea to help one another. They wrongly think socialistic policies are a way to do that.
5. They have seen some instance of unhealthy behavior, maybe addiction, theft, or fraud, and they wrongly thing this is what capitalism is about.

Thank you both for contributing; I've seen a lot of praise for community service instead of merit-based praise.

Young people (1) don't usually have first hand experience with the painful realities of collectivism. (2) have selective history taught in school. (3) are praised for optimism and teamwork with a community service flavor but are not publicly praised for producing real value in the marketplace. (4) are taught by teacher who are mostly legally required to be members of the very politically active public employee unions for teachers (5) and many sanders supporters are the same ilk of the occupy movement which would rather squat a camp on land they don't own for free than go find work.

Because free stuff! Bread and circuses... You see, coherent, logical arguments usually require 140 characters or more and most people are lost after 90.