Our economic "system" was crafted by the obscenely wealthy and power-hungry. They hold all the cards and we don't have a seat at the table. They bought politicians and judges, till they had a supreme court that would make corporations people and money free speech. Then they went to town and destroyed unions, worker's rights, cheap college, effective education, high tax rates on the rich and a democratic party that would stand up to them. Our compensation is no longer tied to productivity and they awarded themselves huge tax breaks so they have nearly all the wealth in the country and we have virtually nothing but debt to them and poverty wages. Bernie has a plan!

Bernie Sanders is right about capitalism https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/opinions/bernie-sanders-capitalism-freedom-powers/index.html

#GreedKills
#GreedKillsDemocracy
#GreedKillsFreedom
#GreedKillsSociety
#CapitalismIsGreed

"In his new book, “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism,” Bernie Sanders chooses the moniker “uber-capitalist” to describe our current economic system — one that feels perfectly designed to enrich a tiny few while making life miserable for nearly everyone else.

...“hyper-capitalism” or “late-stage capitalism,” (is) capitalism untethered to morality or decency. Whatever you call it, it’s not working, except for the super-rich, who Sanders aptly labels oligarchs.
...
Rather than making the case for a Democratic socialist government, Sanders appears to want a reform of American capitalism and to see the country embrace a kind of New Deal liberalism.

Sanders has said...that he sees Scandinavia’s generous social safety nets as a model of the kind of system he supports. In his book, he emphasizes an inspiration closer to home: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — in particular, FDR’s insight that “true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.”

Any person who is living paycheck to paycheck, working to the point of exhaustion just to survive and stay on top of their debt surely recognizes this statement is true. How “free” is a person really if all they do is work?

How “free” is someone who lives with a debilitating health condition because they can’t afford the medication or health care that could cure them? How “free” is a person who starts adulthood weighted down with a mind-bending amount of debt incurred just to get the education they need to get a job?

Many Americans are essentially indentured servants to an overclass that continues to amass wealth and power, while failing to pass on their largesse to their employees. Between 1978 and 2018, CEO pay skyrocketed by more than 900%, while worker pay grew by just under 12%...

These chronically underpaid employees are also often treated as objects by their employers...Workers complained that “their jobs are relentless, that they don’t have control — and in some cases, that they don’t even have enough time to use the bathroom.”
...
Much of what we consider normal here — such as “hustle and grind” culture or working around the clock for employers who would fire us without a second thought — is baffling to our peers in many industrialized countries who prioritize their mental and physical health and don’t suffer from a late-stage capitalist productivity fetish.

Major companies in the United States don’t just mistreat their workers; they lack even a modicum of decency when it comes to their responsibility to consumers and the society in which they live. Today, we are a country where pharmaceutical companies making record profits and paying their executives obscene amounts of money price gouge on drugs that Americans need to survive.
...
Most people can’t even afford a home mortgage while a subsection of society is plunking down cash for their new domicile. The share of buyers purchasing a home for the first time is at a 41-year low
...
But we don’t need this trend to continue to know our society is off the rails. The results are in. This system is not just unjust, it is deadly: The US has earned the unwelcome distinction of having the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rate among wealthy countries.
...
Perhaps most of all, Sanders has powerfully articulated — both in his campaigns and his latest book — the profound lack of decency and utter immorality of the current American economic system."