Donald Trump and his supporters repeatedly invoke the silent majority as their strategy to win in November. His base however is neither silent, nor a majority.

Ironically, there is a real, silent soon-to-be majority of hard-working Americans, comprised of every creed and color. Whichever candidate can address their concerns could not only win the election, but also establish, like Roosevelt did with New Deal voters, a political base for their party for future generations.

They are called by many names: independent contractors, solopreneurs, contingent workers, and most frequently, freelancers. These flexible gig workers are estimated to make up 40 percent of the American workforce and growing.

How they are treated by current public policy is fundamentally unfair and unnecessarily restricts peoples ability to be entrepreneurial, which is exactly what our slow growing economy desperately needs to thrive.

Consider the following example playing itself out in workplaces all over the country:

The first type of worker, or Matt as well call him, has a conventional, 40-hour a week job as a customer service representative for a large telecom company. Matt isnt proud of his work, and sometimes loathes his job, but he has a health insurance package that covers his entire family, a 401K program, two weeks of paid vacation and sick leave every year.

In the cubicle across from Matt, and doing a nearly identical job, is Mary. She works 20 hours a week as a temp for the same telecom company, another 20 hours keeping the books for a pop-up restaurant, and has a side gig reselling vintage bridal gowns to a global customer base on Etsyher true passion.

Mary loves the flexibility that comes with multiple gigs. She has time to pick her kids up from school, coach their soccer team, and help them with their homework. The price she pays for working the same number of hours a week and being with her family is that she assumes the entire cost of her subpar health and dental insurance, she has no retirement plan, no paid vacation, and has to get her work done even if she or her kids have the flu, or worse.

She also endures the bane of all freelancerspaying both the employer and employee contributions to Social Security and Medicare. She pays all of her taxes and never receives a refund. On top of that, Mary has no discrimination or wage protections which could mean it takes months to be paid or a fight just to get paid at all.

Both workers are active contributors to the economy. In fact, with multiple diverse income streams and a tenacious personal drive, I argue that Mary is better for the economy, her family and her community. Yet, as a nation, we continue to perpetuate economic and social policies that favor those like Matt in traditional nine 9-to 5 jobs and punish people like Mary. As a nation, we need to start treating all work as work.