Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) published an op-ed on Fox News denouncing the growing political power and concentration of wealth of America's billionaires and arguing that the country is in decline.
“The road to oligarchy.”
Sanders, who won a fourth term in the Senate in November, wrote that the country is bifurcating into two opposing directions: the billionaire class and the rest of the country.
“We are at an unprecedented and pivotal moment in American history,” he argued in an op-ed. Published on Friday. “Either we fight to create a government and economy that works for everyone, or we continue rapidly down the path to oligarchy and domination of the super-rich.”
The former two-time presidential candidate singled out Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, saying they were “more likely than the bottom half of society, more than 165 million people.” He blamed the top 1 percent, saying, “They own the most wealth.”
Sanders' article comes after Musk accused President-elect Trump of selecting several billionaires to join his administration and many Democrats joining Sanders in opposing a bipartisan agreement to avert a government shutdown. The bipartisan agreement to avert a government shutdown stalled over opposition from Trump's allies. Some point to the latter as an example of the growing influence of wealthy people in Washington.
In his op-eds, Sanders addressed the campaign finance system, which he regularly addresses, as well as the “inadequate” health care system and billionaire ownership of social media platforms such as Facebook, X and Truth Social.
In a second version of America, the senator wrote in an op-ed, working-class people would have access to the “basic necessities of life” while the super-rich buy yachts, mansions, and private islands. He argued that he was having a hard time.
“Here in America, more than 60 percent of our people live paycheck to paycheck, millions of people work on starvation wages, 85 million people are uninsured or underinsured, and 2,000 people live paycheck to paycheck. “More than 10,000 households spend more than half of their limited income on rent or mortgages, and more than 60,000 people die “because they can't afford to get to the doctor on time,” he wrote.
The Vermont independent, who caucuses with Democrats, also cited the growing concentration of ownership on Wall Street and the media industry, citing this as a major concern along with income inequality. he claimed.
“It is estimated that six giant media companies currently own 90 percent of what Americans see, hear, and read,” he wrote. “This handful of companies decide what is ‘important’ and what is discussed, and what is ‘not important’ and what is ignored.”
Sanders called for action in response to these developments, saying there are two ways forward: a ruling billionaire class or democracy and justice.
“That's not democracy,” Sanders said of billionaire influence. “That's not one person, one vote. That's not what this country should represent.”
“In the Gettysburg Address of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.'' Now, today we have a government of the people, by the millionaire class, for the millionaire class.'' ,” he added.
