You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead: Reimagining Wealth, Power and Belonging in America

What does it say about America when the clearest path to opportunity runs through a battlefield?

Christopher Rivers knows that path firsthand. Raised in a lower-middle-class family and tested  by war, he fought his way into West Point and led Soldiers in war. He then kept leading and serving in the halls of US diplomacy and corporate strategy. He also served on the front lines of politics as he ran for state office. Along the way, he learned how power really works—who hoards it, who loses it and what it would take to build something better.

You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead is not just a Soldier’s story. It’s a book that combines gripping lived experience with a plan for collective renewal to build a democratic system that works for the vast majority of Americans. With clarity and courage, Rivers cuts through the noise of partisan politics to expose how America's obsession with zero-sum success—whether on the battlefield, in the marketplace or in public life—has left millions behind to benefit a powerful and wealthy few.

This is a book for anyone disillusioned by inequality, division or the feeling that the American Dream has become a rigged game. With sharp insights and unflinching honesty, Rivers offers a new vision for how we define success, who belongs and what it means to build a country where no one has to fight just to live with dignity.