I sat with 18,000 people on Feb. 13 in Denver and heard roars of approval for Bernie Sanders’ revolutionary message. Sanders was greeted with waves of enthusiastic applause and roars of “Ber-nie, Ber-nie, Ber-nie.”

Sanders’ call for a revolution is striking a responsive chord throughout the U.S.: 28,000 people came to see him in Portland, 27,500 in Los Angeles and 15,000 in Seattle. Sanders’ pace is ahead of Obama’s 2008 run in crowds, donors and polling. He even edges out Republicans in general election polls.

And Sanders did not mince words. He denounced Wall Street and the billionaire class while making the case for the everyday American. “We bailed out Wall Street and now it’s time for Wall Street to bail out Main Street.” The crowd roared.

Why did this diverse crowd of young and old, black, Latino, Asian and white react so positively to the Sanders’ message? I believe it’s because most Americans — the non-rich — directly bear the brunt of laws favoring the rich. People get it. They will even foot Sanders’ bill. Some 4 million have responded with an average donation of $27 each.

Corporations are fleeing U.S. shores to escape taxes, fleecing the taxpayer and helping create the huge U.S. wealth gap — the rigged economy, as Sanders calls it. When he calls out Wal-Mart for its corporate greed, the response from crowds is deafening.

Tax and trade policies enrich the few and leave a crumbling U.S. infrastructure of bridges and highways. These policies shrink tax bases to house, educate and provide health for the rest of us. The U.S. has slipped in global ranking in many arenas. We rank 14th in educational attainment, 22nd in gender equality, and 34th in life expectancy. However, we rank first in incarcerated citizens and near the top in income inequality.

People are hurting as a result and need courageous leadership. I believe that voters respond to Sanders because he comes from a place of integrity, humanity and justice. His 40-year track record on the issues shows that he is a man of character and a noble public servant.

Sanders called for free college tuition for all so that graduates won’t be saddled with huge college loans. The crowd roared approval. He resonated with millennials and anyone else tired of decades of injustice.

The senator will pay for programs through a corporate offshore income tax, a Wall Street speculation tax, ending the carried interest loophole on hedge fund managers and similar strategies.

Previous generations had opportunity. Now, many can’t get ahead, even by working two jobs. Getting a college degree is financially out of reach for most families. Sanders responded with a call for a $15 per hour national minimum wage.

Without a Sanders revolution, we may see skyrocketing health costs, high infant mortality rates, and coming generations faring worse than their predecessors. The American Dream will vanish.

Sanders’ call for a revolution is not outlandish. Today it is a just, reasonable and a moral response to runaway greed, social inequality and racial injustice.

Sanders campaigns for universal health care, a living wage, an end to Wall Street greed, and the dismantling of the vast prison system — many of the goals championed by Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.

Many call Sanders an idealist and unrealistic. Yet his goals are reasonable. These programs already exist in many countries. Germany offers free college for all while Canada and France offer universal health care. We need to heed Sanders’ advice for the U.S. to reclaim its greatness for all.

The U.S. is saddled with gross economic inequality, the inequitable distribution of goods and services, and growing political discontent. The Sanders’ programs promise to help Americans attain what once was the American dream.

March 1 is local caucus day in Colorado. Sanders offers leadership and a plan. Do Democrats still believe that “Yes, we can?” I believe so. In fact, I suggest that “Yes, we can — and we must.”

Estevan Flores is a sociologist and was an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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