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Let’s take a deep breath and, for one moment, forget about Donald Trump, Jimmy Kimmel, the UN, Charlie Kirk, Gaza, a government shutdown and the other crises that we face.
Let’s talk instead about the reality which the corporately-controlled media and the corporately-controlled political system don’t talk about very much.
What we are witnessing right now is the rise of two Americas. One for the billionaire class. And one for everybody else.
In one America, the richest people are becoming obscenely richer and have never, ever, had it so good. That America is overflowing with unimaginable wealth, greed and opulence that makes the Gilded Age seem very modest.
And then there is a second America – an America where a majority of people live paycheck to paycheck, struggling to secure the very basic necessities of life – food, healthcare, housing and education.
The simple truth is that never before in our history have so few had so much wealth and power while so many live in economic desperation.
In the first America, one man – Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, worth more than $480bn, owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households. After spending $290m to put Trump back into the White House, Musk has become more than $180bn richer since election day. That’s a pretty good return on his investment.
But that’s apparently not good enough for Musk. In order to keep him “motivated” as CEO, Tesla’s board proposed giving him a $1tn pay package if he meets certain goals. A trillion dollars.
Jeff Bezos, the fourth wealthiest person in the world, has a fortune of $233bn. He can sail to Venice on his $500m yacht for his reported $50m wedding , where he gave his wife a $3m-$5m ring – because, among other things, his effective tax rate is just a reported 1.1%.
Mark Zuckerberg, the third richest person in the world, is worth $258bn. He has spent $110m to buy 11 homes in Palo Alto, California, to create his own private compound, and another $270m for more than 2,300 acres in Hawaii with a 5,000ft underground bunker and three yachts reportedly worth more than $530m.
Larry Ellison, the second wealthiest person in the world – worth $377bn – recently became nearly $100bn richer in a single day. He owns a private island in Hawaii, a fleet of jets and now he’s reportedly trying to buy up major media companies such as Warner Bros and CNN.
Together, these four men alone are worth more than $1.3tn. But it’s not just them. The top 1% now owns more wealth than the bottom 93%.
The 1% lives in a world completely removed from ordinary Americans. They don’t ride overcrowded subways to get to work or sit in traffic jams to get home. They fly on private jets and helicopters they own. They live in mansions all over the world, send their kids to the most elite private schools and vacation on their own islands. And, for fun, some spend millions to fly off into space on their own rocket ships.
And then there is the other America, where the vast majority of our people live. For them, the economy is not just broken, it is collapsing. In this America, despite a massive increase in worker productivity, real weekly wages for the average American worker are lower today than they were more than 52 years ago.
In this America, people are unable to afford a doctor’s visit (if they’re lucky enough to find one); are paying over half of their limited incomes on rent or a mortgage; and are unable to afford the outrageous cost of childcare or the ability to send their kids to college. In this America, the price of vegetables, fruit and other healthy foods is beyond the budget for many.
For most Americans, the system is not just broken, it is collapsing and is increasingly resembling life in the third world.
Everyone needs healthcare. Yet today, more than 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured – a number that will rise by at least 15 million under Trump’s so-called big beautiful bill.
Everyone needs housing. Yet today, nearly 800,000 Americans are homeless and more than 20m households pay more than 50% of their limited incomes on rent or a mortgage. Since 2000, average rents have more than doubled and the median price of a home has soared to more than $435,000.
Everyone needs a decent education. Yet today, our childcare system is broken and wildly expensive. Many of our public schools are dilapidated with teachers underpaid and underappreciated and American students are falling behind in math, science and reading compared to their international peers. College education is unaffordable for millions and vocational schools fail to train the workers we desperately need.
Everyone needs a secure retirement. Yet, nearly half of older workers have no retirement savings and no idea how they will ever retire with any shred of dignity or respect. Meanwhile, 22% of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $15,000 a year.
Enough is enough.
As supreme court justice Louis Brandeis said in 1933: “We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we cannot have both.”
That warning is even more relevant today.
In this pivotal moment in American history, we must create a government and an economy that works for all, or we will continue sliding into oligarchy – where the billionaire class controls our government, our economy and our future.
Let me say to my fellow Americans: I know day-to-day life can take a toll, but we must not allow ourselves to fall into despair. If we do not allow ourselves to be divided up by Trump and is oligarch allies, we can change the path we are on.
The choice is clear. Let’s stand together for democracy and justice.
