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Are We Prepared To Take On The Enormous Political Power Of The Billionaire Class Or Do We Continue To Slide Into Economic And Political Oligarchy?
-Bernie Sanders
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Are We Prepared To

Bernie Sanders
...
Are We Prepared To Take On The Enormous Political Power Of The Billionaire Class Or Do We Continue To Slide Into Economic And Political Oligarchy?

Understanding the Quote: "are we prepared to take on the enormous political power of the..."

This quote by Bernie Sanders reflects deeply on the theme of class. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Class, Political, Oligarchy, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Bernie Sanders interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is celebrated for insightful thoughts on class and political. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Class
Political
Oligarchy
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Moral
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Nightmare
I Have Introduced A Constitutional Amendment To Overturn Citizens United And Make It Clear That The Congress And State Legislatures Do Have The Ability And The Power To Regulate And Get Corporate Funding Out Of Political Campaigns.
Political
Citizens United
Campaigns
Donald Trump's Language Has Been Atrocious, His Behavior Toward Women.
Language
Behavior
Trump
I Am Sure That There Are Some Single Payer Advocates Who Think The Only Thing Worth Fighting For Is Single Payer.
Fighting
Thinking
Worth Fighting For
There Is Nobody That I Know Who Believes That Bank Of America Is A Human Being Who Should Be Entitled For The Same Constitutional Rights That The People Of Our Country Are.
Country
Believe
Rights
Country Must Confront What He Called Institutional Racism. [we Should] Create A Country Which Provides Economic, Social And Environmental Justice For All.
Country
Justice For All
Racism
The Cuban Economy Is A Disaster. No, I Do Not Praise Fidel Castro.
Praise
Economy
Cuban
The Billionaire Class Fully Understands What Is At Stake. That's Why A Handful Of Them Are Pouring Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Into The Current Elections. Their Goal Is Not To Strengthen The Middle Class, But Continue The Trend In Which The Rich Are Getting Richer At The Expense Of Everyone Else.
Class
Goal
Dollars
We Can Have Paid Family And Medical Leave. We Can Make Public Colleges And Universities Tuition-free. These Are Not Revolutionary, Radical Ideas. They're Kind Of Common Sense.
College
Ideas
Common Sense
Instead Of Cutting Social Security, We're Going To Expand Social Security Benefits.
Cutting
Benefits
Social
Now Is The Time To Alter Our Government. Now Is The Time To Stop The Movement Toward Oligarchy. Now Is The Time To Create A Government Which Represents All Americans And Not Just The 1%... No More Excuses. We Must All Become Involved In The Political Process.
Government
Political
Movement
Defy The Pundits Again And Reach For A High Voter Turnout That'll Shock The Establishment.
Voter Turnout
Voters
Pundits
I Want To See Working People And Young People Come Into The Party In A Way That Doesn't Exist Now. And You Know What, I Want A 50-state Strategy So The Democratic Party Is Not Just The Party Of 25 States.
Party
People
Want
One Of The Issues I'm Really Happy About Is That Recently, Secretary Clinton And I Worked Out An Agreement On Higher Education, Making Public Colleges And Universities Tuition Free For Every Family In America Earning Less Than 125,000 Bucks. Didn't Go As Far As I Wanted. But That's 83 Percent Of The Population In This Country.
Country
College
Clinton
I'm Running For President, Because As I Go Around This Nation, I Talk To A Lot Of People. And What I Hear Is People's Concern That The Economy We Have Is A Rigged Economy.
Running
People
President
There Is Far Too Little Discussion In Washington About The Collapse Of The Middle Class , Almost No Discussion At All About The Incredible Income Inequality And Wealth Inequality In This Country, And The Fact That We're Moving Toward An Oligarch Form Of Society.
Country
Moving
Class
To My Mind, If We Do Not Get A Handle On Money In Politics And The Degree To Which Big Money Controls The Political Process In This Country, Nobody Is Going To Bring About The Changes That Is Needed In This Country For The Middle Class And Working Families.
Country
Class
Political
When The Media Worries About What Hillary’s Hair Looks Like Or What My Hair Looks Like, That’s A Real Problem. We Have Millions Of People Who Are Struggling To Keep Their Heads Above Water, Who Want To Know What Candidates Can Do To Improve Their Lives, And The Media Will Very Often Spend More Time Worrying About Hair Than The Fact That We’re The Only Major Country On Earth That Doesn’t Guarantee Health Care To All People.
Country
Real
Struggle
As President, I Will Fight To Make Tuition In Public Colleges And Universities Free, As Well As Substantially Lower Interest Rates On Student Loans.
Fighting
College
President
The Basic Issue Of An American Society Which Is Fair, Which Is Providing Opportunity For All, Is Nowadays Being Replaced By The Correct Perception That We're Living In A Rigged Economy - Where It Doesn't Matter How Hard You Worked, The Result Will Be All The Income Goes To The People At The Very Top. It's Leading To A Lot Of Frustration And Anger, And People Want Some Fundamental Changes To The Way We Do Economics And Growth.
Frustration
Opportunity
Issues
People Have A Right To Give A Speech. And People Have A Right To Protest. But I'm Not A Great Fan Of Disrupting People's Speeches.
People
Giving
Protest
There Is Something Fundamentally Wrong About The Way We [americans] Are Moving As A Country, When Billionaires Are Able To Buy Elections As A Result Of Citizens United. There`s Something Fundamentally Wrong When 99 Percent Of All New Income Goes To The Top 1 Percent.
Country
Moving
Able
It's Not In The Interest Of The Corporations Who Own The Networks To Actually Be Educating The American People So That Are Debating The Real Issues. It's Much Better To Deflect Attention Away From Issues And Get Into The Story Of The Day.
Real
People
Attention
In Any Democratic, Civilized - Even Non-democratic Nations, If You Are A Nation, It Means To Say That In Our Case, If There's A Hurricane In Louisiana, The People Of Vermont Are There For Them. If There's A Tornado In The Midwest, We Are There For Them. If There's Flooding In The East Coast, The People In California Are There For Us.
Mean
California
People
I Think, While It Is True That The Hillary Clinton And I Voted Differently On The War In Iraq, What Is Important Is That We Learn The Lesson Of The War In Iraq. And That Lesson Is Intrinsic To My Foreign Policy If Elected President, Is The United States Cannot Do It Alone. We Cannot Be The Policeman Of The World. We Are Now Spending More I Believe Than The Next Eight Countries On Defense. We Have Got To Work In Strong Coalition With The Major Powers Of The World And With Those Muslim Countries That Are Prepared To Stand Up And Take On Terrorism.
Country
Strong
War
I Think Everybody Is In Agreement That America Is A Great Entrepreneurial Nation. We Have Got To Encourage That. Of Course, We Have To Support Small And Medium-sized Businesses. But You Can Have All Of The Growth That You Want And It Doesn't Mean Anything If All Of The New Income And Wealth Is Going To The Top 1 Percent.
Mean
Thinking
Agreement
The Fed Has Got To Become A More Democratic Institution That Is Responsive To The Needs Of The Middle Class, Not Just Wall Street Ceos.
Wall
Class
Needs
Let Us Wage A Moral And Political War Against The Billionaires And Corporate Leaders, On Wall Street And Elsewhere, Whose Policies And Greed Are Destroying The Middle Class Of America.
Wall
War
America
In A World Of Massive Wealth And Income Inequality, Europe Must Support Greece’s Efforts To Build An Economy Which Creates More Jobs And Income, Not More Unemployment And Suffering.
Jobs
Europe
Support
If Trump Is Elected President... I Just Don't Know What America Looks Like Four Years After His Election, In Terms Of The Kind Of Bigotry That Will Be Erupting, In Terms Of The Kind Of Divisiveness That We Will See, The Kind Of Demagoguery That We Will See.
America
Years
President
Of Course Their [cuba's] Economy Is Terrible, But They Have Health Care And Education.
Cuba
Care
Economy
Wall Street Has Enormous Power Over The Republican Party, Enormous Power Over The Democratic Party.
Wall
Party
Republican
Planned Parenthood And Human Rights Campaign Are Standing Up And Fighting The Important Fights That Have To Be Fought.
Fighting
Rights
Important
An America Where Every Person, No Matter Their Race, Their Disability Or Their Sexual Orientation Realizes The Full Promise Of Equality That Is Our Birthright As Americans.
Race
America
Promise
Should A Small Business Or A Large Business Be Able To Pollute The Water Or The Air Or The Food? No, I Hope You Don't Believe That.
Believe
Air
Water
What I Do Know Is That Drones Are A Modern Weapon. When Used Effectively, When Taking Out Isis Or Terrorist Leaders, That's Pretty Impressive. When Bombing Wedding Parties Of Innocent People And Killing Dozens Of Them, That Is, Needless To Say, Not Effective And Enormously Counterproductive. So Whatever The Mechanism, Whoever Is In Control Of That Policy, It Has To Be Refined So That We Are Killing The People We Want To Kill And Not Innocent Collateral Damage.
Party
Isis
People
What Wall Street And Credit Card Companies Are Doing Is Really Not Much Different From What Gangsters And Loan Sharks Do Who Make Predatory Loans. While The Bankers Wear Three-piece Suits And Don't Break The Knee Caps Of Those Who Can't Pay Back, They Still Are Destroying People's Lives.
Wall
Sharks
People
Health Care In America Must Be A Right, Not A Privilege.
Care
Health Care
I'm Not Going To Tell You I Know George W. Bush Intimately. I'm Not Going To Tell You We're Best Friends. I'll Tell You I Met Him On A Number Of Occasions. You Know What? George W. Bush Is A Very Nice Guy. Very Funny Guy. His Wife Is A Very Nice Woman; I Thought She Was A Great First Lady. George [w.] Bush Was The Worst President In The History Of The United States Of America... The Issue Is Not Bernie Sanders. The Issue Is The Koch Brothers. The Issue Is Who Owns America.
Brother
Nice
Numbers
The Billionaires Pay An Effective Tax Rate Lower Than Nurses Or Truck Drivers. That Makes No Sense At All. There Has To Be Real Tax Reform, And The Wealthiest And Large Corporations Will Pay.
Real
Nurse
Reform
What The Des Moines Register Said - You Know, There Were Coin - I Think There Were Half A Dozen Coin Flips - A Fairly Chaotic Type Situation. At The End Of The Day, No Matter How It's Recounted, It Will Break Roughly Even. I Love And Respect The Caucus Process In Iowa. See, And I Don't Have To Say It, Because They Voted Already.
Thinking
Iowa
The End Of The Day
Obviously One Would Hope One Would Have As Much Support As Possible From All Walks Of Life, I Am A Great Fan Of Elizabeth And As For What People Do And Why They Don't Do It, I Am Not Going To Speculate.
Life
People
Support
The Debate Is Over. The Scientific Community Has Spoken In A Virtually Unanimous Voice. Climate Change Is Real. It Is Caused By Human Activity.
Real
Voice
Community
It's Immoral And Wrong That The Top 1 Percent Of The Usa Owns Almost As Much Wealth As The Bottom 90 Percent. We Should Look At Countries Like Denmark And Sweden And Norway And Look At What They've Accomplished For Their Working People.
Country
Usa
People
Even In South Carolina, As Badly As We Did, And We Did Very Badly, We Won The Votes Of People 29 Years Of Age Or Younger. The Future Of The Democratic Party, The Future Of This Country Is Involving Young People In The Political Process, Getting Them To Stand Up For Their Rights.
Country
Party
Years
Of Course The Republicans Have Long Wanted To Privatize Social Security And Destroy It. But Social Security Has Been The Most Important And Valuable Social Program In The History Of The United States.
Long
Important
United States
It Is Incomprehensible That Drug Companies Still Get Away With Charging Americans Twice As Much, Or More, Than Citizens Of Canada Or Europe For The Exact Same Drugs Manufactured By The Exact Same Companies.
Europe
Drug
Citizens
I Don't Think Everybody In Vermont Loves Me.
Thinking
Vermont
Social Security Is The Most Successful Government Program In Our Nation's History. We Are Not Going To Cut Social Security! We Are Going To Expand Social Security!
Cutting
Successful
Government
I Believe In Public Funding Of Elections, Absolutely. But This System Iscurrently Very Antiquated And No Longer Applies To Modern Day Politics.
Believe
Election
Modern
In Community After Community, There Are Unemployment Rates Among Young African-americans Of 30 To 40 Percent. Thirty To 40 Percent! Kids Have No Jobs, They Have No Future. That Is An Issue That Has Got To Be Dealt With Simultaneously As We Deal With Police Brutality, Voter Suppression And The Other Attacks That Are Taking Place On The African-american Community.
Jobs
Kids
Issues
What I Believe Is That The United States Is Going To Be Playing On A Level Playing Field In Dealing With Israel And The Palestinian People. I Am 100 Percent Pro Israel In The Sense Of Israel's Right To Exist, I Lived In Israel, I Have Family In Israel, Israel Has The Right To Live Not Only In Peace And Security, But To Know That Their Very Existence Will Be Protected By The United States Government.
Believe
Government
Israel
Wish We Could, And Allow The Taliban Or Anybody Else To Reclaim That Country. But What We Must Do Is Some Progress In Iraq, Where Finally The Iraqi Army, Which Has Not Been A Particularly Effective Fighting Force, Retook Ramadi.
Country
Fighting
Army
People Are Tired Of Working Longer Hours For Lower Wages, Of Seeing Decent Paying Jobs Go To China And Other Low-wage Countries, Of Billionaires Not Paying Any Federal Income Taxes And Of Not Being Able To Afford A College Education For Their Kids - All While The Very Rich Become Much Richer.
Country
Jobs
Tired
I Went Back To A Small Town In Poland Where My Dad Grew Up. It Was A Very Traumatic Experience For Me As A Young Man To Know That My Father's Family Were Killed By Nazis, Killed By Hitler. And That Left, You Know, If Not Intellectually, At Least An Emotional Part Of Me Which Said, God, We Have Got To Do Everything We Can To End This Kind Of Horrific Racism Or Anti-semitism. And I Have Spent Much Of My Life Trying To Fight That.
Dad
Father
Fighting
We Are Spending Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars Maintaining 5,000 Nuclear Weapons. I Think We Need Major Reform In The Military, Making It More Cost Effective, But Also Focusing On The Real Crisis That Faces America.
Military
Real
Thinking
This Is What Class Warfare Looks Like: The Business Roundtable - Representing Goldman Sachs, Bank Of America, Jp Morgan Chase And Others - Has Called On Congress To Raise The Eligibility Age Of Social Security And Medicare To 70, Cut Social Security And Veterans' Colas, Raise Taxes On Working Families And Cut Taxes For The Largest Corporations In America.
Cutting
Class
America
Every Person In America Will Know What Donald Trump Said And What He Is Doing.
America
Trump
Said
It's No Great Secret, Number One, In My View, And I Think The View Of Most Americans, That Congress Itself Is Pretty Dysfunctional. We Are Not Addressing The Real Needs Of The American People. And Second Of All, Philosophically, There Is A Huge Division Between The House And The Senate.
Real
Thinking
People
A Number Of Years Ago, People Were Saying Normal Relationship With Cuba, What A Bad And Silly Idea. They're Communists, They Are Our Enemy. Well Guess What? Change Has Come.
Silly
Years
Ideas
I Come From A State That Has Virtually No Gun Control. And Yet, At Political Peril, I Voted For An Instant Background Check, Which I Want To See Strengthened And Expanded. I Voted To Ban Certain Types Of Assault Weapons Which Are Designed Only To Kill People.
Gun
Assault Weapons
People
I Happen To Believe That One Of The Great Crises Facing The Planet Is Climate Change. Donald Trump Happens Not To Think That Climate Change Is Real. Hillary Clinton Takes It Seriously.
Real
Believe
Thinking
Your Story Is For - Voting For Every Disastrous Trade Agreement, And Voting For Corporate America. Did I Vote Against The Wall Street Bailout?
Wall
Agreement
America
One In Four Corporations Doesn't Pay Any Taxes.
Four
Pay
Corporations
I Want To Break Up The Wall Street Banks. Hillary Clinton Doesn't. I Want To Raise The Minimum Wage To 15 Bucks An Hour. She Wants $12 An Hour. I Voted Against The War In Iraq. She Voted For The War In Iraq. I Believe We Should Ban Fracking. She Does Not. I Believe We Should Have Tax On Carbon And Deal Aggressively With Climate Change. That Is Not Her Position.
Wall
War
Believe
I Don't Want To Get People Nervous Falling Off Their Chairs, But Social Security Is A Socialist Program. It's A Program By Which The United States Government Has Said That When You Get Old You Should Have A Steady Source Of Income.
Fall
Government
Should Have
Education Should Be A Right, Not A Privilege. We Need A Revolution In The Way That The United States Funds Higher Education.
Education
College
United States
Please Don't Suggest That I Think We Normalize Relations With Tehran Tomorrow. We Don't. But I Would Like To See Us Move Forward, And Hopefully Some Day That Will Happen.
Moving
Thinking
Tomorrow
I Think We Should Support Entrepreneurialship.
Thinking
Support
Should
This Is What Oligarchy Looks Like: Today, The Top One-tenth Of 1 Percent Owns Almost As Much Wealth As The Bottom 90 Percent. The Top One-hundredth Of 1 Percent Makes More Than 40 Percent Of All Campaign Contributions. The Billionaire Class Owns The Political System And Reaps The Benefits From It.
Class
Political
Campaigns
We Need To Demilitarize Local Police Departments So That They Do Not Look Like Occupying Armies. We Want Police Departments That Look Like The Communities They Are Serving.
Army
Community
Police
Here Is What The Practical Impact Of Citizens United Means. What Citizens United Means Is That Corporations Call Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Into Television Ads, Radio Ads, And Other Forms Of Advertising To Defeat Those Candidates Who Stand Up And Take Them On.
Mean
Impact
Dollars
We Need An Energy Revolution By Breaking Our Dependence On Fossil Fuels, Polluting Fuels... I Am Very, Very Confident Our Small State Will Lead This. We Will Be Noticed By The Country And The World.
Country
Energy
Needs
I Understood That These Trade Agreements Were Going To Destroy The Middle Class Of This Country. I Led The Fight Against Us. That Is One Of The Major Differences That We Have.
Country
Fighting
Agreement
I Think It Makes People In The Pentagon Kind Of Nervous To Know That Chemical Agents And Environmental Factors Could Cause So Much Damage In Terms Of What May Happen In The Future.
Thinking
Environmental Factors
People
This Is What Income Inequality Means In America, And Why The Gap Between The Very Rich And Everyone Else Is Growing Wider. According To A Recent Study, Ceo Pay Is Now 295 Times More Than The Pay Of A Typical Worker. In 1965, The Differential Was 20 Times. We Must Create An Economy That Works For All, Not Just The Top 1%.
Mean
America
Typical
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