You know, lately, given what's happening in America, I've been
remembering the history lessons that I learned when I was in the
6th grade. And I remember, and I think many
of you will recall, when you think about your education,
you'll remember hearing about Abraham Lincoln on the fields of
Gettysburg in 1863. And that was just a few days
after 20,000 Union soldiers had either died or been wounded
fighting against the nightmare of slavery.
And Lincoln looked out on that field.
And this is what he said you all remembered.
He said, quote, we highly, we here highly resolved that these
dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God
shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of
the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the
earth. And that is precisely why we are
here today, to make sure that government of, by, and for the
people does not perish and that we do not become a government of
the billionaire class, by the billionaire class and for the
billionaire class. The American people do not want
the richest guy on earth running all over Washington DC,
decimating the Social Security Administration, making it
harder. So richest guy on earth making
it harder for old people with disabilities to get the benefits
that they paid into. Proposing to layoff 83,000
workers at the Veterans Administration.
Denying the healthcare that the men and women who put their
lives online to defend us deserve.
Flashing the Department of Education.
Decimating USAID, which, by the way, means that hundreds of
thousands, if not millions of the most desperate people in
this world will die as a result. And when we talk about
oligarchy, it is not just economics.
I trust that all of you know that you are living under a
corrupt campaign finance system which allows billionaires to buy
elections. Don't tell me about democracy
when Musk himself could put $270 million to elect Donald Trump
and then get rewarded with the most important position in
government. So why are we here in LA today?
And the answer is obvious. We are living in a moment of
extraordinary danger, and how we respond to this moment will not
only impact our lives, but will impact the lives of our kids and
future generations. And in terms of the climate, it
will depend. We can depend on whether or not
the planet Earth survives. That's why we're here today.
We're living at a moment where a handful of billionaires control
the economic and political life of our country.
We're living in a moment with a president who has no
understanding or respect for the Constitution of the United
States, and let us make no doubt about it, moving us rapidly
toward an authoritarian form of society.
And Mr. Trump, we ain't going there.
We are living in a moment where the Republican Party has to a
large degree, become a cult of the individual obeying Trump's
every wish and at a time of massive income and wealth
inequality. Right now, as we speak, they are
plotting about how they can give 1.1 trillion in tax breaks to
the 1% and devastate programs that working families see.
You know, it's funny. Just yesterday, our good friend
Elon Musk, Mr. Musk sent out a tweet and in essence, he said,
you know, Bernie Sanders has been talking about the growth of
oligarchy year after year after year.
Well, Ilan, you're damn right that's what I've been talking
about. The difference is I'm no longer
talking about how we're moving to oligarchy.
I'm talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic
form of society. Three months ago, when Trump was
inaugurated, standing right behind them during his
inauguration were the three wealthiest people in this
country, Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos and Mr. Zuckerberg, and right behind
them what 13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated to head
off major federal agencies. And that, brothers and sisters,
is what oligarchy is all about.