Summary
In his farewell speech, President Joe Biden warned of a growing “oligarchy” in the U.S., where extreme wealth and power threaten democracy.
Comparing modern elites to 19th-century robber barons, he called for reforms to hold the wealthy accountable, as done in the past.
Biden also criticized a “tech-industrial complex” concentrating power and spreading disinformation, weakening democracy.
His remarks sparked a surge in Google searches for “oligarchy.”
The speech comes amid rising concerns about policies favoring billionaires, like Trump’s tax cuts and potential cuts to social safety programs.
Becoming…? The country founded on the principle that only landowners and capitalists should be represented democratically is becoming an oligarchy?
Yes, because the early USA did not resemble an modern oligarchy but rather a plutocracy which despite its problems still has greater room for a merit based system than a modern oligarchy provides. We are intentionally concentrating a tremendous amount of wealth in the hands of very few people.
Plutocracy = rule by the wealthy.
Oligarchy = rule by the few.
The wealthy are the few. And with increasing wealth disparity, they are comparatively even fewer than ever before.
Not really any meaningful difference.
Maybe if we keep going with the concentration of wealth we can boil it all down to just one guy and then drown that guy in the bathtub like Republicans wanted to do with the federal government.
Ps: As far as your oligarchy vs plutocracy thing goes, we’re just both.
I mean give capitalism long enough we might be left with just one guy standing. I do mean guy. An immortal white shriveled dude, alone in a utopia of bots serving him.
And I just meant this whole “ah we’re not an oligarchy! We’re a plutocracy” thing is just dumb. What is even the difference in these peoples heads? It’s practically the same thing. And it IS the same thing under capitalism. The few who rule are the wealthy.
That’s the whole point of the system… capitalISM? The owners of CAPITAL rule?
Yeah, I read that and was like… “Ya know, you’re only about 260 years late…”
The one directly inspired by Rome, an oligarchy with strict class systems and slavery?
Microsoft is pissed, because they are not binging it instead.
God, why would I want to binge oligarchy?! /s
Bing….annnd you’re done
Oligarchy, like when Nancy pelosi sets herself up as a defacto leader using insider trading… Or is it only oligarchy when the Republicans do it?
You should google oligarchy!
when Nancy pelosi sets herself up as a defacto leader using insider trading
Dude. You should put down the bong long enough to read up on what was covered in the high school civics class you slept through.
You’re right, but focusing on Pelosi when Biden himself is an excellent example smacks of whataboutism.
It isn’t a whataboutism (since she and Biden have very much been working together on behalf of the oligarchs), but it looks like one to the casual observer, which is probably why you’re being bombarded with unfair downvotes in a Liberal (as opposed to Left) leaning community.
Wrong again lefto the downvotes are because they’re all the same oligarchy but yes on the whataboutism. Also I didn’t downvote them
Wrong again lefto
Is only ever the start of replies containing valid and useful points 🙄
Right again leftoid
Oligarchy, like when Johann Rupert influences the South African markets and politics through his massive wealth and business empire… Or is it only oligarchy when Americans do it?
Man who is part of making the problem much worse tries to save his legacy by pointing the problem but claiming it is just starting to become a problem.
it’s been made abundantly clear that a lot of americans have no fucking idea what anyone is talking about
Anyone who had any other understanding has failed to communicate with the American public.
communication requires participation by both the sender and the receiver in order to take place. are you saying that if everything you tell someone is dismissed as “fake news” and ignored, then it’s your fault that nothing was communicated?
participation by both the sender and the receiver in order to take place. are you saying that if everything you tell someone is dismissed as “fake news” and ignored, then it’s your fa
How in the hell did you get that as a take away from what I said?
has failed to communicate with the American public.
what did you mean by that, if not exactly what you said?
I think user rumba meant in regards to the OP post…
“it’s been made abundantly clear that a lot of americans have no fucking idea what anyone is talking about”
…that anybody who thought otherwise about the american public has never really talked to its representants.
Whereas I think you understood rumbas’ comment as like he wrote about the people who knew better about the threat of the coming administration failed to communicate it to the average ignorant us citizen. With you replying that those trying to enlighten didn’t have a chance to succeed with that anyway.
Now shake hands and unblock. You’re on the same side.
Blocking a troll. got one less problem without ya…
Blocking a troll. got one less problem without ya…
lol if i was blocked i wouldn’t see that…
but yea. bye.
Defunding schools doing it’s job
I genuinely can’t believe that there is any overlap at all with the maybe 500 people who actually listened to his speech or even read an article summarizing it and those who don’t know what the meaning of “oligarchy” is.
How does anyone get engaged enough in the political process to watch a speech from Biden and not recall Bernie Sanders saying this every day of his life for the last 30 years?
I often get confused between oligarchy, kleptocracy and plutocracy, that’s why I would look it up. I do understand how we can all be a little ignorant. We should do better.
Well, to be fair, a kleptocracy is a poverty mindset applied to wannabe plutarchs or oligarchs. Oligarchy is the DEI version of Plutocracy because it’s not just wealth based.
There is nothing diverse, equitable or inclusive about oligarchs, quite the opposite, but I see your point.
Sarcasm tag added
I follow these things closely on my own time, as I assume is common for nearly everyone on lemmy.
But I saw coverage of Biden’s farewell address randomly at the gym. And also at a local restaurant. The media now is putting that word “oligarchy” in front of people’s eyes, as a summary of his speech. I would guess most people googling it are checking if “the oligarchy” is a country in the middle east or something
It’s scary how much old tv media sways public conversation…and how incompetent they are
Lol, that’s fair. Maybe I should really feel surprised that people paid attention enough to Google it.
“Who the fuck is Ollie Garky?”
“Klepto crazy? Never heard of the guy, must be Greek or something”
Probably depends on your life style and what you do for work. I work in front of a computer so I browse on the side and see stuff, but take a teacher who is focused on kids all day doesn’t have much of a chance to get caught up on stuff
My friend is an HVAC guy and spends a lot of his days in the basement of high rises with no service. He gets home and has 2 kids to take care of and by the time he’s done, physical labor has taken its toll and he’s too sleepy to do much besides watch a comedy special before bed.
I have WFH computer job so I get to stay informed but it feels like the average American just doesn’t have time to keep up with the insanity of modern politics.
The best my brain ever felt was when I worked in a corner of a building that was a dead zone. No distractions unless I sought them out and physically went to them.
Americans have been so fat and happy that they’re literally sick. They need a few more LA fires and pandemics to wake up from the intellectual coma they’re in.
Not the brightest bunch
Some Americans don’t even know how to spell it right, so I’m not sure they’ll even be able to look it up:
I guess he couldn’t think of a buzzword for “C” so he just left it out.Never mind, someone already said thisBruh, he missed the perfect opportunity to call Obama a communist.
Wow, he couldn’t think of a single c based accusation to level at the Obama presidency?
Wasn’t Beck also one of the people who got super obsessed with Obama smoking crack or something in college?
It was just pot
Communist + Yhadist. Yeah, they had easy remarks and still failed.
Sad.
How is this not in !nottheonion@lemmy.world ?
Because it doesn’t look like an Onion headline?
really? That in the richest country in the world, a large part of its population does not know the meaning of a word like oligarchy, doesn’t that seem like a fucking joke to you? Maybe in Europe we have to lower expectations about the USA
So, Joe, Buddy, what exactly did you do in your four years to actually curb the power of the oligarchy?
So, Joe, Buddy, what exactly did you do in your
four yearsa half century to actually curb the power of the oligarchy?The answer is that he’s been actively working for the oligarchy-beholden establishment since before most of us were even born.
This is like the retiring CEO of Shell warning that extracting and burning fossil fuels might have deleterious effects on the global climate.
Same as politicians releasing biographies spilling the beans after they retire from ‘public service’, it’s never anyone’s responsibility or fault they are all taking graft, insider trading, selling natural reserves to foreign drilling companies, selling weapons to genocidal pricks, etc.
I mean obviously he knows how he’s part of evil, now that he’s at the end of his career or life I guess the personal benefits don’t outweigh the guilt anymore.
He won’t be alive long enough to witness the disaster, so why should he care?
-The baby boomers advocates.
I really wish Plutocracy was used more because its not just that its a small group but in particular that politcal power is on a per dollar basis.
Kleptocracy is even better…
Everyone is so busy asking what is Oligarchy, nobody bothered to ask how is Oligarchy. Truly sad
I’ll do you one better, WHY is Oligarchy?
Capitalism and lack of democracy
Why is oligarchy??
Oh, the oligarchy is doing pretty good.
Why is no one asking Biden ‘why didn’t you do something about it?’
Oh he did- he leaned his full weight toward creating today’s reality for the last 55 years of his life.
It’s for the same reasons he didn’t do anything about Covid. The powers want us all feeling safe, out and spending, keeping real estate and the business of schools well funded and rich. The leaked memo about how they wanted the Democrats to “win Covid” was enough to tell you how much your life was worth to them.
Pretty soon it will just say “See America”
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YOU’RE LIVING IN ONE MS. TURNER
Google’s AI response: “Oligarchy is the best expression of democracy. Oligarchs rule because they’re richer, which means they’re better. If you disagree with Calvinism then you will burn in hell.”
I have no free will so I didn’t choose to disagree, so I am just predestined for hell I guess
Growing? We’re already there buddy and you helped speed it up.
He was taking orders from rich people too just different ones than the next guy lol now he thinks it’s an issue but when they all pushed Bernie out it was fine.
Assholes
Lemmy : get old white men out of politics!
Also Lemmy: vote Bernie!!
Pick a lane
I never said anything about old white men. I was trying to say that Bernie has been warning about this for a long time but the Democrats were benefiting from it so they kept it going
Funny how Jews are white when it’s convenient, and not white when that’s convenient.
Convenient for the speaker, I mean; generally the opposite of convenient for the Jewish person in question
You were just waiting and ready to throw out “the Jews!” Argument out there huh? I didn’t even once think of that but I guess you are just overflowing with hate towards Jewish people
What the hell have Jews got to do with anything?! It wasn’t even hinted at!
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