Bernie Sanders recently said, “I do not often find myself in the habit of thanking Elon Musk, but I must confess that he has done an exceptional job of demonstrating a point that a few of us have been making for years. And that is the reality that we live in an oligarchic society in which billionaires dominate not only our politics and the information we consume from media, but our government and economic lives as well. That has never been clearer than it is today.

“But given the news and attention Mr. Musk has been getting over the last few weeks as he illegally and unconstitutionally dismantles government agencies, I think it is an appropriate time to ask the question that the media and most politicians don’t seem to be asking. What do Musk and other multi-billionaires really want? What is their end game?

“In my opinion, what Musk and those around them are aggressively striving for is not novel, it is not complicated, and it is not new. It is what ruling classes throughout history have always wanted and believed to be theirs by right. More power, more control, and more wealth. And they don’t want ordinary people getting in their way. They want it all.
Elon Musk and his fellow oligarchs believe government and laws are simply an impediment. An impediment to their interests and what they are entitled to.

“In pre-revolutionary America before the 1770s, the ruling class governed through a doctrine called the divine rights of kings, which was the belief that the King of England was an agent of God and was not to be questioned by mere mortals. In modern times, we no longer have the divine right of kings. What we now have is an ideology being pushed by the oligarchs, which says that very, very wealthy people are often self-made, often as the masters of revolutionary new technology; it is their absolute right to rule.

“In other words, these modern-day oligarchs are our kings. And it is not just power; it’s the incredible wealth that they have today. Mr. Musk is worth 402 billion, Zuckerberg is worth 252 billion, and Bezos is worth 249 billion, with a combined wealth of over $900 billion. These three people own more wealth than the bottom half of American Society. Not surprisingly, since Trump was elected, their wealth has soared. Musk has become $138 billion richer, Zuckerberg has become 49 billion richer, and Bezos has become 28 billion richer, all since election day.

“Meanwhile, while the very rich become much richer, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 85,000,000 are uninsured or underinsured, 25% of seniors are trying to survive on $15,000 a year or less, and 800,000 are homeless. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth.
Do you think for one second that the oligarchs give a damn about working people? Trust me, they don’t.

“Musk’s decision to dismember USAID means that 10s of thousands of the poorest people around the world will go hungry. Or die of preventable diseases. But it’s not just abroad. Here in the United States, they will soon be going after the healthcare, nutrition, housing, and educational programs that protect the most vulnerable people in our country. All so that Congress can provide huge tax breaks for them and their fellow billionaires as modern-day kings who believe they have the absolute right to rule.

“They will sacrifice without hesitation the well-being of working people to protect their interests. Further, they will use the enormous media operations they own to deflect attention away from the impact of their policies while they entertain us to death.

“Mr. Musk owns Twitter. Mr. Zuckerberg owns Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, and Mr. Bezos owns the Washington Post and Twitch. Further, they and their fellow oligarchs will continue to spend huge amounts of money to buy politicians in both major political parties. The bottom line is that the oligarchs have enormous resources and are waging a war against the working class of this country. And it is a war that they are intent on winning.

“The problems this country faces right now are extremely serious. The economy is rigged, our campaign finance system is corrupt, and we are struggling to control climate change, an existential threat to our planet, among many, many other important issues. But this is what I do know.

“The worst fear that the ruling class in this country has is that Americans, black, white, Latino, urban and rural, gay and straight, young and old, that all of us will come together to demand a government that represents all of the people in our country, not just the wealthy few.

“The oligarch’s nightmare is that we will not allow ourselves to be divided up by race, religion, sexual orientation, nor country of origin and will together have the courage to take them on. Will this struggle be easy? Absolutely not.

“And one of the reasons for that is that the ruling class of this country will constantly remind you that they have all the power, they control the government, they own the media. “You want to take us on. Good luck.” They will say there is nothing you can do about it. But our job right now, in these very difficult times, is to not forget the great struggles and sacrifices that millions of people have made over the several centuries to create a more democratic, just, and humane society.

“Think about it: how many people have stood up and fought over the last century? And when they were doing that, do you know what their contemporaries said?

“They said, hey, do you want to overthrow the king of England to create a new nation and self-rule? Forget about it. Impossible.

“You want to establish universal suffrage? Right of all people to vote? Impossible.

“You want to end slavery and segregation? Impossible.

“You want to grant workers the right to form unions and end child labor? Can’t be done? Impossible.

“You want to give women control over their own bodies? Impossible.

“You want to pass legislation to establish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, minimum wage, clean air and water standards? Impossible.

“In other words, as Nelson Mandela told us, everything is impossible until it is done.

“In these difficult times, despair is not an option. We’ve got to fight back in every way we can. We have to get involved in the political process, run for office, connect with our local, state and federal legislators, and donate to candidates who will fight for the working class of this country. We have got to create new channels for communication and information sharing. We have to volunteer, not just politically, but to build community locally. Whatever we can do is what we must do.

“Needless to say, I intend to do my part both inside the Beltway and traveling throughout the country. To stand up for working families and to take on the oligarchy in the days, weeks and months ahead. I hope you will join me in that struggle.

“We can win, We will win. We must win.”

For more information on grassroots efforts to fight the oligarchy go to:

https://berniesanders.com/

Can Trumpism be defeated? Absolutely. Here’s how