I am sure I was not alone in not expecting President Biden to say anything very interesting in his farewell speech to America last night, but as it turned out, he did.
Biden took the opportunity to make clear the threat to the USA and the rest of the world that Trump represents. He said:
That's why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous — and that's the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. We see the consequences all across America. And we've seen it before.
More than a century ago, the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts. They didn't punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had. Workers want rights to earn their fair share. You know, they were dealt into the deal, and it helped put us on the path to building the largest middle class, the most prosperous century any nation the world has ever seen. We've got to do that again.
Later in the speech, he added:
You know, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. He warned us that about, and I quote, “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power.” Six days — six decades later, I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well.
Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.
He also had this to say:
And in a democracy, there is another danger — that the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don't feel like they have a fair shot. We have to stay engaged in the process. I know it's frustrating. A fair shot is what makes America America. Everyone is entitled to a fair shot, not a guarantee, just a fair shot, an even playing field. Going as far as your hard work and talent can take you.
Let me be clear: all this seemed a bit late. It would have been better to explain motivations a long time ago. Clearer expressions of threat would have helped as well. And I would not agree with all Biden has done, said, or actually seems to stand for. But, that said, there is much to agree with in the sections that I quote.
The USA and the world are under threat from oligarchs.
Mega-wealth is threatening democracy.
Power is being abused.
The tech-industrial complex is out of control.
The belief in fairness is being eroded.
Biden got that right.
The trouble is, his Party appears to have no intention of doing anything about these things, being a bystander watching and even benefiting from all such things over time.
If the Democrats want to return to office and make meaningful change, they have to walk the talk of controlling power, wealth, oligarchy and tech. Will they? I want to know how.
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Everything Biden said yesterday was true the day he took office on Jan 20th 2021. Then the barbarians were at the gates. Now they’ve broken them down & are about to run amok…That’s Biden’s chief legacy…
Oligarch or elite strangling of our social structure and economy bending it all to increase their wealth, control, privilege and social ranking is rampant in U.K. as well, has been for centuries.
However we now have a more aware and generally better informed younger generation who are being suppressed by it and hopefully along with a changing aged population mix there are signs I think of a democratic change that is becoming intolerant of the likes of Labour, Tory, LibDem, Reform neoliberal grasping greed and incompetence exploited by oligarchs and elites here and their aspirational sycophants all to willing to do anything for a sliver of any elite scraps.
This site and others similar are an integral part of that signposting to a better time. I remain hopeful.
Hello Richard.
It doesn’t say much for President Biden’s legacy that he chooses to say all this now when he’s leaving. Biden is certainly no FDR and ‘the buck stops here’ desk ornament is exactly that – an historical artefact only there for show. A bit like himself.
These exact same issues were clearly present in America (and other countries) when Biden came into office. What has he actually done with the power of the Presidency to address these issues and change the course of American history? Not much I say.
The Democrats have been as useless in the USA as The Labour Party have been in the U.K.
Our politicians now have no vision, little empathy, and are basically just dull, interchangeable, self interested BEEP. Maybe Starmer’s AI revolution should start with replacing all the members of both Houses of Parliament.
Too little, too late.
As to the Democrats, look how many of them just supported Republican legislation now in place to sanction the ICC and anyone working for or assisting it in pursuing the international rule of law in relation to Israel.
There are a growing number of rogue terror states in the world, flouting the rule of law, and I’m living in one of them, and genocide Jo is retiring as president of another.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5076598-house-legislation-icc-sanctions/
Biden is correct. It strikes me that he actually did a great deal for the USA as a whole with his inflation reduction act and government funded pump pruning of green technologies but got FA thanks for it due to the the dreadful state of American politics, the shamelessness of the republicans in supporting Trump, social media led lying and conspiracy theory rubbish and so on.
The tech-industrial complex….an excellent name for companies like FB, Twitter, Amazon. Helping to wreck the world, just like ‘Big Oil’.
Personally, I’ve never used Twitter, have a FB account but never really bother with it anymore, have used Amazon a lot over the last 20 years but no longer want to; Google is the one I use every day.
In the light of Zuckerberg’s disgusting behaviour in going to see if there’s any conceivable reason for not closing my account. Ditto Bezos with Amazon: another Trump brownnoser .
Not sure about Google. Maybe install Duck, duck go?
Duck duck go works pretty well
Also happy with Duck Duck Go
Another long time DuckDuckGo user here! I also use Brave browser rather than Chrome. Haven’t managed to get myself off gmail yet, though.
So does Ecosia, you get adverts but the income pays for reforestation around the world. Been on it for a few years
www,ecosia.org
Thanks
My open source choices for oligarch-billionaire free computing. Retirement is a great time to make the change.
1. OS – Switched to Linux Mint xfce64 a couple of years ago. Easy to learn. Good support community. V lightweight so speeds up old laptops that won’t take Windows 11. Wide range of included or downloadable open source software (pay if you want to) including Wine to emulate Windows, or you can dual boot with Windows if you must or use Virtual Box & a virtual Windows machine.
2. Browser – Firefox plus NoScript & Adblock to replace Chrome or Edge. Or use open source chromium.
3. Office suite – Libre Office instead of MSOffice
4. Email – Thunderbird mail client with calendar to replace MSOutlook. Pop3/SMTP or IMAP supported.
5. Not open source, paid for – My own domain and 8 email addresses, plus unlimited unique disposable forwarding addresses plus cloud storage from IONOS – also allows webmail & has an App for phone access. Host for webspace too. Based in Germany.
6. Not open source, Zen as ISP, for their customer service.
Bye bye billionaires.
The U.S. has had the rich oligarch problem for some time – what I detect now is that the rich oligarchs of today are truly international and have been infiltrated by the U.S.A’s old enemies such as Russia. These modern oligarchs are truly people of nowhere and exist only in their bank accounts and because of their foreign friends. The new oligarchy are also bullshitters, risk takers and losers which has made them vulnerable to criminal exploitation by anti-U.S. elements so that their loyalties to their country are ‘kompromised’ (intentional ‘k’ there).
To me, the old oligarchs – ‘home grown’ as they were – feeding off the rich bounty of an an America being formed – at least believed in America (why not, there was lots to take and make?). This new lot do not. They are naught but a tool for vested interests and the payoff is handsome.
If the U.S. was to become a new Jerusalem on the hill, a country for everyone , a redoubt against monarchic autocracy (a view held by its invaders only we must remember) then I’m afraid that it is has failed.
The invaders in the U.S. have become the invaded. ‘Payback is a bitch’ as the late Robin Williams once said.
There is no schadenfreude in my view BTW. I mean look at the UK – we too tried and have failed and looking back I don’t think we stood a chance.
The U.S did have a chance and they’ve blown it, big time.
Startpage.com
Is very good it does what it says
Search and browse the internet without being tracked or targeted. Startpage is the world’s most private search engine.
I’ve used it for the last 10 years and found it to be excellent
Well done!!!!
A ‘fair shot’ requires an economic Bill of Rights as per FDR’s video in this link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights
Thanks to those here who’ve recommended search engines that avoid tracking. Mind you, I haven’t heard anything about the Google founders kissing Trump’s arse like Bezos and Zuckerberg.
But I am fed up with the endless adverts that oop up when you browse anything on Google.
A bit late to this conversation, but duckduckgo,, and ecosia are both excellent replacements for other browers and search engines.
As for Biden and his last minute warnings, it should be remembered that Bernie Sanders has been using the word toligarchy to describe the takover of American democracy since the 1990s.
Seth Meyers on NBC always has a humorous and insightful take the on political scene. His latest “A Closer Look” addresses exactly this matter, and shows multiple clips of Sanders warning about this over the last thirty years. Clips start around 3:45 minutes in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td09Yghu_h0&list=PLJaq64dKJZoqsh7PGGUi-SARV4wUz_lVa&index=1&t=198s
I like his approach.
And, incidentally, the same video shows the Biden farewell speech. The halting whispererd delivery is striking. It’s clear to me that had Biden won his second term, he would not have been capable for long (if at all).