* Says, They Are Accumulating Wealth At The Expense Of Poor People
By Abiola Olawale
Serving United States Senator, Bernie Sanders, the lawmaker representing Vermont at the US Senate has raised an alarm on what he described as escalating oligarchy in the United States.
Sanders asserted that some billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, among others, are allegedly playing a pivotal role in what he called “a troubling global trend that undermines political agency and economic stability.” He spoke. Is a podcast which is currently trending globally.
According to him, oligarchy is allowing the affluent elite to accumulate staggering levels of wealth while billions of people are left impoverished and disenfranchised in the process.
He also highlighted the extreme wealth disparity in the U.S., notably pointing out that Musk and Bezos own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans.
He stated: “In my view, this issue of oligarchy is the most important issue facing our country and world. Oligarchy is a global phenomenon, and it is headquartered right here in the United States. The fact of the matter is, and we don’t talk about it very much, but this is the reality: a small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy, period, end of discussion.
“Increasingly, they own and control our government through a corrupt campaign finance system. Since 2020, 5 billion people all over the world have become poorer, while the world’s five richest billionaires have more than doubled their fortunes at a rate of $14 million per Hour.
“And listen to this Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has added 120 billion to his fortune just since Election Day. Got that 120 billion since Election Day, while Jeff Bezos, number two guy, he only became $67 billion richer in the last month.”
Speaking further, Sanders asserted that Musk, Bezos and other billionaires are allegedly stashing their funds in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes.
He noted that their action has crippled the income that ought to accrue to to governments across the world.
He continued: “Outrageously, the wealthiest people in the world are stashing up to 32 trillion in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands to avoid paying their fair share of taxes to governments all over the world. In other words, governments are underfunded, and these people stash trillions in tax havens.”
Sanders also expressed concern over the political influence of billionaires like Musk, particularly through campaign contributions. He has called for reforms in political funding to reduce the influence of the ultra-rich in politics.
He added: “Meanwhile, the uber rich do spend money to protect their incredible wealth. They do it by buying influence and, increasingly, by buying our elections. Just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to buy our recent elections. Elon Musk alone spent at least $277 million to back Donald Trump. How’s that one guy, $277 million and we saw the results of that investment working pretty good from the major defense contractors spent over $38 million this election cycle.”
