A Veteran’s Wake-Up Call: Ending the Broken Bargain of The American Dream

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LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 14, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — In his new book, “You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead: Reimagining Wealth, Power and Belonging in America” (ISBN: 978-1968339180 [paperback]; 978-1968339173 [ebook]; 978-1968339197 [hardcover]; Legacy Launch Pad Publishing), author, Army Veteran and former political candidate Chris Rivers lays bare the broken promises of the American Dream and offers a path forward for a nation at a breaking point.

A working-class kid from Naugatuck, Connecticut, Rivers saw firsthand how money determined opportunity. At 17, he enlisted in the Army National Guard. By his twenties, he was leading combat missions in Afghanistan, watching Soldiers lose limbs in blasts, and asking the same haunting questions his troops did: Why are we still here? What are we dying for?

“You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead” combines memoir, military leadership lessons and policy insight. Rivers shows how wealth, power and belonging—the three forces he identifies as central to the American experiment—have been hijacked by elites. The result, he argues, is a country where working Americans must fight wars abroad or grind themselves down at home just to survive.

The book unfolds in three parts: his childhood and military service, his years studying public policy at Georgetown and seeing our policy systems in action while running for office and finally his blueprint for building a government that works for people, not billionaires.

“I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, to serve your country, and to wonder if the sacrifice is worth it. This book is about charting a way out of that trap—for me, for my Soldiers and for every American family,” Rivers says.

Rivers argues that the US must decouple wealth from political power, build a new marketplace of ideas and foster a sense of belonging that can unite rather than divide. Without these changes, he warns, America risks sliding further into political violence and economic despair.

“You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead” is a wake-up call and a rallying cry. It urges Americans across the spectrum to demand a fairer, more resilient future—one where service, sacrifice and dignity don’t come at the cost of survival.

“The average American family shouldn’t need two and a half jobs just to survive,” Rivers says. “We need leaders who will fight for working people with the urgency of someone who’s actually lived it.”

Chris Rivers’s memoir, “You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead”, is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other major online booksellers. Discover more at https://www.chrisrivers.com/book.

ABOUT LEGACY LAUNCH PAD PUBLISHING

Legacy Launch Pad Publishing is a boutique founder-led book publishing company trusted by high-income entrepreneurs to build seven-figure authority. Its authors have become Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling writers, landed TEDx talks based on their books and appeared on such shows as Today and Good Morning America as well as in major outlets, including The New York Times and USA Today. For more information, visit https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/.

NEWS SOURCE: Legacy Launch Pad Publishing

Keywords: Books and Publishing, new books, memoirs, Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, Army Veteran and former political candidate Chris Rivers, You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead: Reimagining Wealth, Power and Belonging in America, LOS ANGELES, Calif.

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