Empowering college students to create jobs and eliminate their debt, Jimmy McMillan, the leader of The Rent is too Damn High party, spoke to students at Northeastern University on Tuesday.
About 250 students and Boston residents gathered to listen to McMillian, a New York gubernatorial candidate in the 2010 election, promote his ideas and motivate students to take action to improve their future.
“It all boils down to one thing: the rent is too damn high!” McMillan said.
“What you aren’t being told is what brought me here, and is what riled me during the debate,” he said. “During the debate I spoke of issues that no one seemed to know what I’m talking about. Was it because of my beard?”
Nicknamed “Santa Clause,” McMillan said he modeled his white hair and white beard after the hairstyle of a goat he owned.
McMillan, a Vietnam War veteran, said he used his war experiences to shape his political platform, including his view that the drinking age is too high.
“I was smart enough to put a rifle in my hands, I was smart enough to vote, but I was too dumb to drink,” McMillan said.
Many students nodded in agreement at this point.
McMillan said that past generations have ruined the future for the younger generation and that the current government is eliminating the chance for a successful future without debt.
He said that while the government was giving federal money to bail companies out of debt, the citizens were losing their homes and cars.
“I’m talking about necessities,” McMillan said.
He said there needs to be more of a focus on creating employment for college graduates and less on military involvement and personal issues like abortion.
While McMillan originally listed his political party as Democrat, he has switched to the Republican Party to run for president in 2012.
“I don’t want to bump heads with Obama,” McMillan said.
However, he does not fear the Republican candidates.
“I can beat them fools,” McMillan said.
McMillan is relying on social media to spread his message to younger generations and said that older people do not support him.
He also emphasized that the politicians currently in office are not accomplishing anything.
“Their time is up,” McMillan said. “It [society] don’t work like that anymore.”
Some who attended said they were not convinced by his arguments.
McMillan avoided a lot of questions that were asked of him, said Stan Berenshtein, a sophomore at Northeastern.
“He has a good general idea, but no specifics,” Berenshtein said. “Like for example, pardoning us of debt? That’s a terrible idea. It’s never going to work realistically.”
However Berenshtein agreed with the overall concept of McMillan’s ideas.
“I agree with some of his points, like our parents messed up and it’s going to take us to change,” Berenshtein said.
Angie Sassi, a Northeastern freshman, hoped that American citizens listen to McMillan’s ideas and take him seriously.
“It seems like he actually wants to change the country,” she said.
Sassi agreed with McMillan’s view that a college education should be free.
“When I took a look at all the young children sitting out there [in colleges], I felt all the spirits rushing through me. I knew I couldn’t go wrong there,” McMillan said.
He challenged students to take risks, stop becoming politicians and instead work toward improving the future.
“Don’t be afraid to gamble. Don’t be afraid to take a chance.”
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