Washington DC - Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday evening delivered his State of the Working Class address, calling for an end to corporate greed and extreme wealth inequality in the US.

As incoming chair of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sanders opened his remarks on Tuesday by asking two fundamental questions: what is life like for most Americans, and what can Congress do to improve conditions for the working class?

In answering these questions, Sanders laid out four main problems plaguing American society today:

• The ongoing decline of the middle class over the last 50 years
  
• Extreme wealth and income inequality
• The growing concentration of ownership across most sectors of the economy
• The corrupting influence of big money in politics

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Together, these factors are contributing toward "the rapid evolution of our society into an oligarchy in which the billionaire class has enormous and growing control over the economic and political life of the United States," the senator said.

What does this mean for everyday Americans trying to make a living?

The theme of Sanders' speech was the extreme inequality that has left many in the US struggling to get by as the rich get richer.

"We are living in a moment when three people now own more wealth than bottom 165 million Americans," he said.

Meanwhile, 63% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, with around 52 million people making under $15 an hour. The costs required to cover basic living expenses often exceed that income.

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This lack of financial security can have devastating consequences for working people: "It means that every day you are living under incredible stress [...] You scared to death that if your car breaks down, if your kids get sick, if your landlord raises the rent, if you get divorced or separated, if you become pregnant, if for whatever reason you lose your job [...] you will find yourself in the midst of a financial catastrophe," Sanders explained.

"Living paycheck to paycheck leaves you with no sense of security – you can't breathe, you can't relax – no cushion to fall back on, and no quality time to spend with your family in a relaxed in environment," he added.

These factors lead to lower life expectancy rates for working people than for wealthy Americans.

"Stress kills, and having to work to survive and worry about your day-to-day existence for yourself and your kids, that kind of stress makes people sick and eventually kills them," Sanders said.

Sanders, the biggest champion for Medicare For All in Congress, also pointed to the gross inequities that exist in the US health care system and their impacts on working Americans.

The senator said 500,000 people in the US go bankrupt each year due to medically related debt, while 68,000 Americans die each year because they can't afford health care.

"You get sick, you got a cancer operation, and you know what you get? You go bankrupt as a result. Does that make any sense to anybody?" he challenged.

As tens of thousands of Americans are left to die, insurance and pharmaceutical companies are raking in massive profits at their expense.

Reining in the greed in the health care industry is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to addressing socioeconomic inequities, Sanders acknowledged.

In order to increase opportunities for the majority of Americans, it is also imperative to raise the minimum wage, strengthen labor unions, expand pension plans, invest in child care and education, and cancel student debt.

"In this difficult moment in American history [...] let us have the courage to stand together and fight back against corporate greed," Sanders implored the audience.

"Let us fight back against the massive income and wealth inequality that is taking place right now. Let us fight back against a corrupt political system dominated by billionaire campaign contributors. Let us listen to the needs of working families and not just corporate CEOs," the senator continued.

"Let us stand together to create an economy and a government that works for all, not just the 1%," he ended, to thunderous applause.