QOTD -- The Oligarchs' "Tech Industrial Complex"

 

"... Today, an oligarchy is taking 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. But 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 to. Workers want rights there and it helped put us on a path to building the largest middle class, the most prosperous century any nation in the world has ever seen.   [snip]

"... [P]owerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we've taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren. We must keep pushing forward and push faster.

"There's no time to waste. It's also clear that American leadership in technology is unparalleled, an unparalleled source of innovation that can transform lives. We see the same dangers of the concentration of technology, power and wealth. In his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the of the dangers of the military industrial complex.

"He warned us then about, and I quote, the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote. 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..."  President Biden in his farewell address, January 15, issuing a needed warning about the oligarchy -- the "tech industrial complex" -- about to assume power in Washington, DC.  At the conclusion, he said it's our turn to stand guard.  May we do it with even greater strength and resolve, and clearer eyes about the evil we face. 

In other parts of the address, he covered the many accomplishments of his Administration before they're memory- holed by the MAGAts and big media, always eager to please the powerful.