Sanders, accepting Debs Award in Terre Haute, urges renewed labor solidarity and warns of “grotesque” inequality

Video by Robert Deppert – for The Bloomingtonian

Written from video transcript

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Oct. 25, 2025 — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders accepted the Eugene V. Debs Award on Saturday and used his remarks to call for a revival of working-class solidarity, condemn what he called “grotesque” levels of wealth inequality, and warn that tech billionaires are reshaping society without democratic consent.

“In my opinion, Eugene Victor Debs is one of the great figures in American history,” Sanders said at the sold-out banquet hosted by the Eugene V. Debs Foundation in Debs’ hometown. He thanked organizers for keeping Debs’ “dream” and “vision alive” and said Debs’ analysis of capitalism is “absolutely as relevant today” as it was a century ago.

Sanders traced Debs’ legacy from the Pullman Strike of 1894 to Debs’ five presidential campaigns and imprisonment for opposing World War I, highlighting the union leader’s insistence on human dignity across race and class. He quoted Debs’ famed statement of solidarity — “while there is a soul in prison, I am not free” — to argue that the core struggle of American politics remains unchanged.

Pivoting to the present, Sanders said modern media and politics “rarely” confront inequality unless “we force that discussion,” adding that one person now holds more wealth than “the bottom 52% of American households,” and that the top 1% control an outsized share of national wealth. He called it a moral failure that “in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck.”

He criticized tax cuts for the wealthy and attacks on the Affordable Care Act, accusing political leaders of “wrapping themselves in the flag” while advancing policies that “exploit working people.” Citing Debs’ anti-war stance, Sanders said the U.S. must reject “young people in one country killing young people in another country for rich people,” and urged shifting federal priorities from military spending to “feed our kids and educate our kids.”

Sanders also warned that a handful of tech moguls are investing “hundreds of billions” in artificial intelligence and robotics “without the approval of anybody,” transforming the economy and human relationships and threatening millions of jobs. “They have the wealth, they have the power,” he said, arguing that democratic oversight is needed so “this world does not just belong to them.”

Invoking another Debs line — “If you are looking for a Moses to lead you… you will stay right where you are” — Sanders said change won’t come from a single leader but from “ordinary people standing up together” through unions and collective action. “Don’t look at Gene Debs as some kind of historical figure,” he said. “Look at him as somebody who is motivating us today.”

The Debs Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the labor leader’s commitment to workers’ rights and social justice. Sanders, a longtime admirer who produced an early documentary on Debs, said the task now is to “take his message forward.”

The post Sanders, accepting Debs Award in Terre Haute, urges renewed labor solidarity and warns of “grotesque” inequality first appeared on The Bloomingtonian.