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I Just Watched Bernie Sanders "Fight Oligarchy" Speech [1]
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Date: 2025-02-22
I just watched Bernie Sanders on YouTube delivering his "Fight Oligarchy" speech in Omaha, Nebraska. It was originally planned to be at a union hall, but he got so many RSVP's that they had to hold it at a larger venue. His speech starts at 14:00.
In his speech he said "We are rapidly moving toward an oligarchy". (I call it "state capture" and in my view, it has already happened) He also warned against authoritarianism.
He also called out Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg as the three wealthiest individuals who were lined up behind Tump at his inauguration. I personally think that Zuckerberg and Bezos were there to support Trump because they had been intimidated. Trump, in his first administration, threatened to jail Zuckerberg and he threatened Bezos over the views published in the Washington Post, which Bezos owns.
The three oligarchs that I see as most dangerous are naturalized U.S. citizens Elon Musk, Peter Thiel (who appears to be influenced by right-wing political blogger Curtis Yarvin and is also the "owner" of Vice President J.D. Vance), and media mogul Rupert Murdoch (who owns Fox News and media outlets in the English speaking world, Europe and Asia). Musk and Thiel both rely on government contracts. We may have an immigrant problem but it is not the poor people Trump is rounding up. It is these billionaire immigrants that are the real problem.
Elon Musk has a very narrow brilliance and that narrow brilliance does not extend to something as huge and complex as the United States government. The U.S. government is not just authority. It functions as the foundational support for his business and all of our lives. Since he is taking a "chainsaw" to our government, I think he has elevated himself to his own level of absolute incompetence.
Sanders also said that we cannot undo this mess only by relying on politicians in Washington, D.C. He said a grassroots movement is required.
Sanders went on to advocate for the right to unionize, which I totally agree with, but I do not think unions should be allowed to strike because it disrupts the rest of society. I think there should be a government mediator instead of the right to strike. Of course Trump got rid of the National Labor Relations Board just this past week.
While Bernie advocated for raising the minimum wage to $17 per hour, at no point did he describe the real issue of stagnant wages vs rising GDP. In an earlier story, I pointed out that per capita income is now 53% of per capita GDP with a 2023 post-pandemic inflation rate of 4.1%. In 1969, the per capita income was 99% of per capita GDP with an inflation rate of 5.46%.
Even with technology taking jobs, there must be a way to address this. I advocated for an "American Opportunity Grant" for every citizen aged 18 or over which would be based upon the difference between per capita GDP and per capita income. This could be inflationary, but I believe there is a sweet spot around 75% where it is not. (I noticed when I googled "per capita income vs per capita GDP" I didn't get the dollar figures I was looking for, like I did earlier. All I got was the rate of change. I had to use duckduckgo.)
He went on to say that the current house budget is going for a 40% cut to Medicaid as well as cuts to other social safety net programs and cuts to vital services and he encouraged people to call their Representative about it.
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