On Jan. 15, President Joe Biden gave his farewell address from the Oval Office. In a speech packed with self-congratulation and lofty claims about his four years in office, Biden made one striking admission.
“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” Biden said. “And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people. 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.”
Biden cited Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, in which he warned about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.”
After World War II, Eisenhower was the chief architect of the military-industrial complex. However, more than a decade later, he warned, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
Biden said, “Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country.”
Biden spoke as though this oligarchy were merely “taking shape,” when in fact, it’s already a harsh reality for working people — one that has been decades in the making and upheld by both major parties. And, as Biden knows, the oligarchy is not just the tech-industrial complex.
Capitalism is not democratic. The U.S. is a capitalist republic but not a democracy. As Aristotle explained, democracy means the rule of the poor. Rule by the rich is an oligarchy. Aristotle says the real difference between oligarchy and democracy is whether the wealthy or the poor rule.
The settler war of independence from the British colonizers was led by men of wealth — merchants, bankers, and plantation owners. The Constitution set some democratic rights (limited to men only; none for women, Indigenous peoples, or enslaved people), but the Constitution did not establish a democracy. The House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency are all set up to ensure control by wealth. Put simply, money rules. What’s taken place over the last decades is that it has become more and more concentrated.
The reality of an entrenched oligarchy
Biden’s remarks ignored his administration’s role in further consolidating the power of a tiny billionaire class.
The very richest are among the biggest winners from President Joe Biden’s time in office, the Seattle Times reports, despite his farewell address warning.
“The 100 wealthiest Americans got more than $1.5 trillion richer in the past four years, with tech tycoons including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg leading the way, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The top 0.1% gained more than $6 trillion, Federal Reserve estimates through September show.”
Bidenomics meant the rich were getting richer. The top U.S. billionaires did far better than everyone else.
The Seattle Times adds:
“The 100 largest fortunes combined now exceed $4 trillion — more than the collective net worth of the poorest half of Americans, spread over 66.5 million households. The share of U.S. wealth owned by the top 0.1%, at nearly 14%, is now at its highest point in Fed estimates dating back to the 1980s.”
Biden leaves office talking about an oligarchy that his policies, together with those of the Democratic and Republican parties, have promoted to protect corporate profits and drive down wages, hitting the working class hardest. When adjusted for inflation, average weekly wages are now less than when Biden came into office.
A president who served corporate interests
While the warning about the threats of the oligarchy and the tech-industrial complex is true, Biden has never done anything other than promote that oligarchy. His administration and the entire political establishment support the economic system — capitalism — that feeds the Wall Street and Big Tech oligarchy.
Donald Trump, along with Biden and many others, represents a capitalist oligarchy that has been concentrating wealth for decades. We have seen how billionaires and mega-millionaires — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and Larry Ellison, among them — use their economic power to undermine labor rights, squeeze wages, promote racism and sexism, attack trans rights, and reshape society in their interests. Their alliances and political maneuvers are not abstract threats; they have immediate consequences.
The path forward
Biden’s farewell address may seem to acknowledge a grim truth, but words alone won’t protect rights or improve wages and conditions. From Amazon to Tesla, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, the ultra-rich have grown wealthier and more aggressive.
We, the working class majority, need to fight back against these forces. Our solidarity, ability to organize, and determination to defend and expand workers’ rights are potentially far more powerful than all the concentrated wealth of the oligarchy. We cannot rely on hollow speeches or empty promises from any politician. The only way to address this “dangerous concentration of power” is through our collective action — on the picket line and in the streets.
Stand united. Fight for what’s rightfully ours. Together, we can build a socialist future that serves the many, not just the wealthy few.
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