Chapter 6 begins by discussing Eugene Victor Debs—former leader of the Railroad Workers’ Union and head of the Socialist Party. Despite the fact that Debs is intentionally left out of American history, Sanders feels that both workers and Democratic politicians must remember his ideologies: that one is either pro-worker or pro-corporate class.

This is especially important, he suggests, given that when adjusting for inflation, the average American worker is making less than fifty years ago. Historically, worker pay has paralleled worker productivity; however, in the 1970s, we began seeing fewer pay increases for work, despite the fact that the rich have been earning exponentially more as time goes by.

Sanders uses these facts to explain the “Great Resignation” of 2021. While more conservative politicians simply claim that no one wants to work anymore, the fact of the matter is that workers, especially those who were considered “essential,” realized that they were not respected enough to continue working at their jobs.

Work is a large part of who humans are, and Sanders speaks briefly about human nature. He believes that all humans want to feel that they are contributing to something to society, and that provides us with a feeling of accomplishment. However, US capitalism is founded on using employees until they have nothing left to give and then discarding them, without providing them any sense of accomplishment.

Since legislation like the North American Free Trade Agreement and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China passed in the 90s, thousands of factories have shut down and workers who had given their lives to their work were displaced as CEOs decided to move jobs outside the US. Sanders claims that workers need to have more say and more power within their work.

This exercise of autonomy is the only way that Americans can truly feel and exercise freedom. Franklin Roosevelt recognized this concern during the mid-1940s, but was overshadowed by World War II. The US has slid backwards in workers’ rights since then. Given all the constraints upon citizens’ lives that are tied to working long hours at soul crushing jobs (e.g. healthcare, housing, etc.), not to mention the fact that workplaces offer workers no say in what happens therein, Sanders suggests that most US workers are not really free.

Sanders provides two short-term solutions to this issue: “Create a full-employment economy in which every worker is entitled to a decent job” and “strengthen the trade union movement, empower workers, and make unions a genuine counterbalance to corporate power.” He reserves longer-term solutions for the next chapter.

Leaders such as Martin Luther King, Asa Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and Eleanor Holmes Norton all recognized the first point, namely, that equality is tied to economic freedom and a full-employment economy. Thus, Sanders proposes a federal jobs guarantee. The US is in need of more education workers, childcare workers, healthcare workers, construction workers, and manufacturers, especially if we take seriously the call to move away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

Guaranteeing these jobs are available will cost money, but Sanders says that it outweighs costs in the future if the US does not invest in its infrastructure in this way. To fund such a campaign, Sanders turns attention to the military budget in the US, which takes up more than half of the US’ discretionary spending. The Pentagon has never been audited, and he suspects that with proper oversight, tens of billions of dollars could be cut from military spending.

Additionally, Sanders suggests that workers need more control within their jobs. There have always been anti-union sentiments in the US. Still, when there are...