Today we’re dealing with the terrible, terrible flood in Houston, and we’ve got [people saying] that [coverage] is right, that’s appropriate. We’ve got a national crisis. But what about wealth inequality? Is that a national crisis? I think it is. But you’re not going to have the TV cameras [on that].

So, why do we talk about certain issues and not others? There are reasons for that. What this book tries to do is focus on [those] major issues. [For example,] we’re the only major country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee healthcare to all people. That’s an important issue.

TV: Building on that, many young people struggle with political engagement in the first place, in large part due to the fact that they feel the system is against them or it’s not meant for them. What do you say to them?

BS: That perception is correct. The system is clearly rigged. It’s controlled by big money interests. It’s controlled by the billionaire class. It’s controlled by established political leaders. And you’ve got to sit down in your community [and] your state and figure out how you address that. The answer is that when people stand together and they come together, that is the way we make change today, and that is the way we’ve always made change.

Let me give you a few examples of that. I introduced legislation several months ago to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and we got 31 co-sponsors on that legislation. If I’d introduced that legislation five years ago, I probably would’ve had no co-sponsors. Why? Because all over this country [and] led by fast-food workers, people who were making $10 or $11, stood on the street and they fought to raise the minimum wage all over the country. That’s how change takes place.

You look at the women’s rights movement in this country. We still have a long way to go to fight sexism, but no one will deny that women have made enormous progress in many areas over the last several decades. Do you think it happened by accident? It didn’t. It happened because women stood up and said, ‘You know what? We’re not going to be second-class citizens in America.’ The gay rights movement, the same thing. The workers’ rights movement, the same thing. So the lesson to be learned is that when people stand up and fight for change by the millions, we can make change.

TV: What you’re saying too is that change doesn’t happen overnight; it takes months and even years. Young people are notorious for being impatient in a good way, but how should they keep from getting discouraged if they’re taking on these gigantic, monstrous issues and feel like doing just one thing isn’t enough?

BS: I think you’re quite right; I myself get a little impatient. People say, ‘I went to a demonstration! The world didn’t change the next day.’ Well then you’ve got to read a little bit of history and learn about the struggles of the African-American community in this country and the decade after decade of struggle in which people went to jail, in which people were lynched, in which people were beaten, in which people were humiliated. Generation after generation kept fighting. Read about gay rights in this country and the struggle the gay community has had.

The answer is that history is not about bringing about change overnight. It is about mobilizing large numbers of people, about educating people, and about knowing how to move forward effectively.

TV: Part of that shift, which I know you’ve talked about over the past couple of years, is how to have discourse with people who might not believe in the same thing. Especially for young people who are around peers, how do those conversations take place, and what do those conversations even look like?