Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution

The liberal firebrand belabors corrupt government policies, fingers corporate bad behavers, and lays out his legislative agenda in this young readers' edition of Our Revolution (2016).The author twice mentions that he drew more young voters in the 2016 elections than either of his rivals, but if he expects this mix of talking points, statistics, and campaign rhetoric to fire up readers of pre-voting age he needs another think. After an opening dedication to those young people, he then goes on at tedious length to deliver belligerent indictments of big corporations ("When it comes to dodging taxes, GE brings good things to life"); banks ("their business model is based on fraud"); the pharmaceutical industry ("It has effectively purchased the Congress"); and government policies that have left health care and child care systems "dysfunctional," immigration "broken," and public education a "pipeline from school to jail." Glancing references aside, minorities do not enter his discourse until a late chapter on criminal justice reform. Though he frames his proposed remedies in big-hearted and common-sensical language, they can come off sounding grandiose, such as a claim that eliminating "wasteful and unnecessary administrative costs would free up all the funds we need to provide health care to every American." Along with occasional charts and surpassingly fustian sidebar tweets (hey, Bernie tweets too!), each chapter features useful leads to activist organizations, online information resources, and videos. Afterword not seen. Heavy reading for a revolutionary manifesto and unlikely to be remembered when 2020 rolls around. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)

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