Summary
Senator Bernie Sanders is intensifying his fight against U.S. oligarchy, targeting wealthy individuals like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Sanders argues that these billionaires manipulate the global economy, influence elections, and control the government, hindering democracy and exacerbating global inequality.
He believes this issue is crucial, impacting various aspects of society, including climate change, healthcare, worker protections, and poverty.
As someone not from the US (but who has lived/worked/studied in the US), Sanders seems like the only member of the US upper house that is willing to speak honestly and engage in haram speech that goes against local provincial orthodoxy.
I was particularly intrigued by an article that claimed that Sanders was the only “outsider” in the US upper house and that all other senators were more or less on friendly terms (with the implication being that their polemics are a ruse). Unfortunately I can’t find the article.
Sanders seems like the only member of the US upper house that is willing to speak honestly and engage in haram speech that goes against local provincial orthodoxy.
He is, and he’s loved by millions of Americans for it, and also hated by essentially the entire political establishment for it.
As someone not from the US (but who has lived/worked/studied in the US), Sanders seems like the only member of the US upper house that is willing to speak honestly and engage in haram speech that goes against local provincial orthodoxy.
As someone from the US, Sanders seems exactly like this to me, also.
Apologies if you already know this, but Sanders is not a Democrat. He caucuses with them and runs as a Democrat, but he’s not a member of the Democratic Party. Depending on the article they may have been referring to that. (IMO this is one of many reasons the DNC ensured he couldn’t get the nomination in 2016 and 2020.)
It’s honestly too bad he is not in his 40s. At the risk of being overly presumptuous, I will speculate that he would be a good leader for the US and the “free world”.
Who are the younger politicians he is mentoring to carry the torch? I wish my home country had someone like him to follow and support.
Apologies if you already know this, but Sanders is not a Democrat.
Yeah, that’s still a sore spot since it was one of the justifications given by centrists for how they were fine with him getting ratfucked in 2016.
all other senators were more or less on friendly terms
This is true for the parties as a whole. They are far too comfortable trading positions of power between themselves because they’re all interested in keeping themselves in the ranks of the privileged. Neither party is willing to make any serious changes that would risk upsetting the balance for the greater good. They don’t want change. Not actual meaningful change.
They have their elections and one party rules for a while before switching to the other, but the poor remain poor and the powerless remain powerless. Meanwhile they keep (or expand) their wealth and influence.
They may oppose each other in some ideologies, but make no mistake that they’re on the same side when it comes to their own privilege.
Bernie is on the outside of this, which is why they will keep him down at all costs. He’s a threat to their power structure.
all other senators were more or less on friendly terms
Except for Ted Cruz. Everyone hates Ted Cruz.
Have you ever examined your own biases, or the biases of the American social media that you’re exposed to?
I try to. I will admit, it can be difficult.
Anything specific you are referring to?
Yeah, the “only Bernie loves us” bullshit.
Here are ratings from the AFL-CIO, America’s union federation, where you can find the current year and lifetime ratings of all US Senators.
Bernie has a 98%.
Twenty five Senate Democrats have higher pro-union ratings than him.
I love Bernie, but it’s hard not to just feel utterly hopeless when you see how Elon basically bought the government and we see the other oligarchs flying down to mar-a-swampo to kiss donvict’s ring.
Putin’s oligarchy is here.
It is amazing how quickly the elite is closing ranks around the Trump government this time around. This includes essentially all major media, billionaires and even some Democrats. Completely different from the first term when we immediately saw a major resistance movement.
Realistically he will end the Ukraine war (since Ukraine has to cede land without US support), and it’s likely that investment will skyrocket (as tariffs make it too costly to import). The same will happen to inflation and inequality (but we won’t see that in the media). Let’s not even think about minorities and women. My worst fear of competently-looking facism may well be on the way.
Tariffs will not significantly increase domestic investment. The US is at its maximum employment and that’s without deporting people. Who will even work in those factories?
Not to mention American labor means that products made here are at least double the price. So no it’s smarter to just raise your prices 20-30% than build a factory that will also have raw material costs 20-30% higher anyways.
There’s some fictional reality where young people yearn for the factories. Ignoring the second half of the story where that actual generation dreamed of a world where their children didn’t have toil in manufacturing.
Also ignoring the fact that wages have been going up for lowest earners.
It seems to me he should continue to work with labor and student unions to organize a general strike for explicit, specific goals by a given deadline. The best tool the working class has to take power back from oligarchs is to coordinate stop working at the same time until demands are met, and it requires politicians and labor leaders like Sanders and Sean Fain to build and coordinate alliances across the workforce.
Yes this! I’ve been watching Bernie speak up about this. So far though, it’s just talk. Ranting. I’m looking forward to see what his plan of action is. I think gearing up towards a general strike, or threat thereof, is the only really tool we have given the incoming admin.
Yeah, Bernie just said Depose.
You don’t defeat oligarchs by protesting alone. You also don’t break their power hold by forcing them into concessions. The position of oligarch must be eliminated entirely, and anyone with links to the position they held is either removed from the planet, or imprisoned where they never have human contact to try and manipulate their way out.
