Bernie Sanders Makes Demands, Says 12 Million Americans Want An End To ‘Oligarchic Control Of Our Economic And Political Life’

Bernie Sanders penned a strongly-voiced editorial, published in the Washington Post this morning (June 23). Sanders put forth his view of America still fighting against the grip of oligarchic control. Sanders spoke, he stated, not for himself but for the 12 million Americans who voted for him in the 2016 primary.

Hillary Clinton claimed only 15.8 million votes, according to Real Clear Politics, so the race was very close, and neither of them was able to secure the required number of pledged votes for an automatic win.

Sanders says his demands are not about what he wants, but what the American people want and need.

“I often hear the question, “What does Bernie want?” Wrong question. The right question is what the 12 million Americans who voted for a political revolution want.”

Bernie Sanders and his followers believe they have been going toe to toe with oligarchic control since the beginning of the campaign and, perhaps, even before. Many Sanders supporters consider their movement an outgrowth of Occupy Wall Street, later known simply as Occupy due to the protest’s spread throughout the nation eight years ago. Both Occupy and Bernie Sanders continue fighting for the basic human rights and freedoms of American citizens.

“We want to end the rapid movement that we are currently experiencing toward oligarchic control of our economic and political life. As Lincoln put it at Gettysburg, we want a government of the people, by the people and for the people. That is what we want, and that is what we will continue fighting for.”

Fighting oligarchic controlling entities within the political and economic structure of our society has typified the Sanders campaign. Many Americans have come to suspect those elements broke the law as they fought back. Charges of voter fraud have been filed in many states. Also, 2.5 million uncounted early and provisional ballots are now being counted and may overturn California’s primary results, according to another Washington Post article. Stanford University researcher Rodolfo Cortes Baragan explains his findings on discrepancies in primary results vs. exit polls in many states, as quoted by Alexander Higgins.

“huge discrepancies, nearly all are in favor of Hillary Clinton by a huge margin [are] statistically impossible. The probability of this happening was is 1 in 77 billion.”

Bernie Sanders spoke out against Citizens United demanding campaign finance reform. Citizens United is legislation that allows corporations to donate huge sums of money to political campaigns. This promotes, according to Sanders and many others, oligarchic control of the election process in America.

Bernie Sanders also condemned voter suppression and proposed ways to prevent that from happening in the future. Sanders strongly desires to rip oligarchical control from the hands of the wealthy by restoring the power of fair elections. All he is asking from the system is an honest and fair election process where every American’s vote is counted equally.

“We want to overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move toward public funding of elections. We want universal voter registration so that anyone 18 years of age or older who is eligible to vote is automatically registered. We want a vibrant democracy and a well-informed electorate that knows that its views can shape the future of the country.”

Bernie Sanders has stopped short of crying foul specifically about his campaign, though his angry supporters seem to be doing that for him. Instead, Sanders insists on outlining a democratic platform to help the disenfranchised American people. Bernie wrote in the Washington Post on behalf of the 74 million Americans living in poverty.

“We want an economy that is not based on uncontrollable greed, monopolistic practices and illegal behavior. We want an economy that protects the human needs and dignity of all people — children, the elderly, the sick, working people and the poor. We want an economic and political system that works for all of us, not one in which almost all new wealth and power rests with a handful of billionaire families.”

Bernie Sanders then wrote to defend the 2.2 million Americans imprisoned in the United States. The cry to end privatization of prisons speaks to many allegations of unfair and unwarranted imprisonment for profit scandals that have been an issue for decades. Imprisonment for profit could also be seen as a form of oligarchic control, in that it values corporate profit over the needless suffering of human beings.

“We want a criminal justice system that addresses the causes of incarceration, not one that simply imprisons more people. We want to demilitarize local police departments, see local police departments reflect the diversity of the communities they serve and end private ownership of prisons and detention centers. We want to create the conditions that allow people who are released from prison to stay out. We want the best-educated population on earth, not the most incarcerated population.”

Bernie Sanders spoke to the situation of the disenfranchised youth of this country. This more than any other cause has led to his near election. Those under 30 have been cut off from the American dream, and Bernie is determined to restore that.

Bernie Sanders supporters are young people caught up in an economic disaster the Democratic Party refuses to acknowledge, much less take action on. The young are experiencing the full force impact of job exportation, a depressed service economy, and an economic environment that devalues their skills. They are facing a lifetime career in fast food or retail if they are lucky enough to find a job at all.

“Youth unemployment in a number of inner-cities and rural communities is 30 to 50 percent, and millions of young people have limited opportunities to participate in the productive economy. Failing schools all around the country produce more people who end up in jail than graduate college. Millions of Americans have police records as a result of marijuana possession, which should be decriminalized.”

Bernie Sanders fights oligarchic control on behalf of disenfranchised Americans.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]