Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In

Make no mistake, Bernie Sanders is a working politician and senator, and never was that more clear than while reading his book 'Our Revolution.' In it, about one-third is devoted to his experience in the 2016 campaign for President, and the remaining bulk of the book is a detailed summary of his views on important issues affecting Americans, policies and laws he has introduced or supported to try to solve those issues, and how we can better address them in the future.So let's be clear: this is not a book to be read if you're looking for scandal, or sensationalism, or gossip, or even entertainment. Sanders takes the issues facing America seriously, as he believes we should too. This is underscored by the final main section of the book, which takes to task most of corporate mainstream media, and how it approaches politics with an eye towards making it entertaining or highlighting the spectacle of it, rather than focusing on the issues and problems at hand.Sanders' message is consistent and clear - the major issues in America of income, gender, and racial inequality, of global climate change, of broken justice and health care and immigration systems, of a media run more by corporations seeking profit than by journalists seeking truth, are difficult and troubling. They are not easy to solve, but with hard work, dedication, and cooperation, they can be overcome.That's not to say that 'Our Revolution' is a boring book at all. The section focused on the 2016 presidential race, as seen from Bernie's unique perspective, was both eye-opening and interesting. Told in a no-frills, point-by-point style, Sanders goes through the ideas that sparked the possibility of a little-known senator from Vermont challenging the political establishment, and very nearly achieving one of the greatest upsets in modern history. Even told without flourish, this is an exciting story in itself, and an inspiring one.The rest of the book is detailed and intricate in its descriptions of issues and policies in America - some might even call it "wonky," which isn't entirely off the mark. Sanders is, after all, somewhat of a political wonk, and he cares about the details both in the shape of the issues and the policies and ideas that could solve them. That care shows throughout this book.And occasionally, through all the descriptions of issues and discussions of policy, Sanders' voice really shows through. His thoughts on the political establishment's insistence that "America is broke" and can't afford the kinds of programs he supports? "Baloney." His response to those who say that renewable energy tax credits distort the energy market? "What a load of crap." Of course, he quickly follows up with an explanation of the finer points, but in those moments you can clearly hear Sanders' voice speaking clearly - it's not fancy, it's not poetry, but it is honest, plain talk. In these moments, you definitely know exactly what Sanders thinks, and how he feels.In 'Our Revolution,' Bernie Sanders lays out a reasonable and easy-to-follow plan for how he would address the major issues he sees in America. But make no mistake, despite the reasonable prose, Sanders is angry. He's angry about the levels of poverty and income inequality in America, he's angry about racial injustice, he's angry about what we're doing to the environment, and he's angry about the corporate conglomeration of media that makes it more and more difficult for voices like his to be heard on the world stage.In 'Our Revolution,' and in his campaign for president, Sanders takes that anger and transforms it into a movement for positive change in America, and in the world.

I started following politics after the 2016 election mostly due to how often I saw videos of politics in my YouTube recommended videos. I watched some of them and simply didn’t know who was “right” and who was “wrong”. I saw people making arguments and never pointing out the counter argument people have on those arguments they present. I found out about Bernie Sanders and started seeing that everyone called him a socialist and a communist. People, especially conservatives often go back to the “argument” “socialism has never worked” and they point out Venezuela and the Soviet Union. It only takes basic research to learn that what Bernie wants is something that has been accomplished successfully before. In fact, in many instances, we are the only developed nation to not apply some of these successful policies. In Our Revolution Bernie goes into more depth about these policies and how they could actually make the U.S a much better place.In this book Bernie talks about how he started a campaign because he saw no opposition to Hillary Clinton and he disagreed with her on a couple of issues. He talks about how he raised money and made some connections. He spoke specifically about certain issues because he met with union workers and middle class and poor people and he knew their struggles. Instead of getting on the phone and begging for money from millionaires and billionaires in return for deregulation and tax cuts, he met with regular folks and raised millions of dollars in small donations averaging $27. The part of the book related to the campaign was very entertaining and eye opening to readIn the last part of the book, he gets into the policy issues and how they could solve some of the problems facing the country. I have heard way too many conservatives and even some liberals say “how are you going to pay for it?” Well, in this book he answers that and many more questions with great detail. This part of the book is filled with plenty of research that help his argument about his policies. There is plenty of substance to all his policies and people who claim that he is unrealistic would be surprised if they read this book. They would find that not only are a lot of these policies plausible, but also needed.The very last few pages of the book focus on a topic that people would find interesting regardless of your politics. It is based on research and famous work done by Noam Chomsky in his book called “Manufacturing Consent.” Which if you paid any attention to this 2019-2020 primary you know played a great factor in his opponent winning it.

I'm a Brit who became entrigued with Senator Sander's entry into the 2016 Presidential campaign when i first heard about it in April 2015. Weirdly I was someone who actually knew about him and his place in American politics before running. But after reading his positions and his arguments for his positions, it actually helped inform a lot of my political views, which I have held for the past few years, and faced off with people in various debates.Whilst the first half of the book is an autobiography, the second half is essentially "The Democratic Socialist Manifesto". Unlike the work of Marx and Engels in the 1800's, helped by modern statistics and data availability Sanders offers his take on the current American political landscape, and how a very small number of vastly wealthy individuals have huge sway over public policy. That part of the book, I would encourage everyone to read, because its shocking hearing all of it (even as someone who heard it a hundred times watching his campaign).Even though i'm a Bernie fan, I do have one issue with the book-which is that the autobiography section just wasn't long enough for my liking. A lot of the stories in there were great-for example, explaining his route to becoming mayor of Burlington, or his statewide journey's to determine whether he should run for President. But a lot of the younger stories felt a bit rushed. Some of his experiences as a kid growing up in Brooklyn. Some of his time spent at college. Some of his time spent in various jobs (e.g. teacher)-i felt probably had a big impact on his political views, but had very little page space backing them up.Despite this tiny bug-bear, overall I would strongly recommend this book-ESPECIALLY if you are fan of Senator Sanders, but even if you aren't and are curious about him (which you should be)

Being a Brit I never thought I would be buying a political book about an American politician - but I was so inspired by Bernie's campaign I felt compelled to do so. First half of the book is an informative account of the man's history, the details of his campaign and what he stands for. The second half gives details of what HE thinks is necessary to "make America great again". If you like Bernie, you'll love this book.

if I was an American citizen Bernie would have my vote. it’s a shame there is no-one in the uk with this sort of insight. many of the issues he discusses are the same in the uk but we suffer the same problem - the issues are not newsworthy and there are too any vested interests in maintaining the status-quo.

Every adult/student in America, if not beyond need to read this book. I had no idea the US was in such crisis but I now also understand why I had no idea. As a Brit I prey that the American people can save their democracy, they deserve it. Failure to bring the billionaires under control will cast a bleak shadow across the world.

Perfect balance between a short history of the election campaign and, crucially, the real issues at stake and what a decent progressive agenda might look like ... time to get to work for it.