The opening lines, those two sentences that make up the first paragraph, are just. so. good.

And because of their awesomeness, they're certainly the most widely quoted words in the history of American Socialism. Right off the bat, Debs established his egalitarian ideals in a very radical way.

Not too many people in American political life have proclaimed their solidarity with the criminal class the way Debs did by saying

[…] while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. (2)

Debs began by saying that he had "recognized my kinship with all living things" (1), and the famous phrases about being in the lower class and of the criminal element demonstrate that he means it when he says he feels a universal kinship with everyone.