As GOP Pushes Tax Giveaways for the Rich, Sanders Launches 'National Tour to Fight Oligarchy'

www.commondreams.org As GOP Pushes Tax Giveaways for the Rich, Sanders Launches 'National Tour to Fight Oligarchy' | Common Dreams

As Republicans target vital public services to offset a massive deficit caused by tax cuts for the rich, Bernie Sanders is taking action. His "National Tour to Fight Oligarchy" aims to empower Americans against the rise of authoritarianism and kleptocracy. #FightOligarchy

As Republicans target vital public services to offset a massive deficit caused by tax cuts for the rich, Bernie Sanders is taking action. His "National Tour to Fight Oligarchy" aims to empower Americans against the rise of authoritarianism and kleptocracy. #FightOligarchy

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The entire circus is a masterclass in maintaining the illusion of resistance. Sanders’ roadshow against oligarchs? Admirable theater, but let’s not pretend it’ll dent the armor of a system where both parties kneel to capital. The Democrats’ leadership is too busy courting Silicon Valley’s purse-strings to notice their base drowning in medical debt and predatory rents.
Propaganda outlets spin Musk as some maverick genius while he pickaxes the last remnants of public infrastructure. Meanwhile, 60% of the country can’t afford a $500 emergency, but sure—let’s debate which billionaire’s tax cut gets extended.
The real kicker? Watching career politicians feign confusion when asked to actually fight. Resistance has become a branding exercise, all hashtags and hollow rhetoric. The machine keeps grinding, whether you’re wearing a blue tie or a red one.
- Missing the entire point.
  Sanders is leading an example of organizing.
  Communities will come outside to join, show face to eachother and strengthen their bond; no matter what happens.
  You don’t actually belief a lone wolf can fix thing?
  
  Sanders as an "example of organizing"? That’s rich. Organizing for what—another round of performative outrage that changes nothing? Let’s not confuse rallying crowds for spectacle with actual structural change. Communities don’t need a shepherd to lead them into another dead-end. They need autonomy, not a figurehead to parade around as the system’s acceptable dissenter.
  "Strengthen their bond"? With what? Empty slogans and recycled platitudes? The machine doesn’t care about your kumbaya moments; it thrives on your naivety. This isn’t a Disney movie where collective hugs topple oligarchs.
  And no, I don’t believe in lone wolves fixing things. But I also don’t believe in career politicians cosplaying as revolutionaries while the system they serve grinds the rest of us into dust. Grow up.
  
  Organizing: coming together as a group to plan about shared interests.
  No Sanders is not needed as a Sheppard, neither is he trying to be. You really are missing the point.
  People bond with eachother. To know your neighbors, to build stronger communities including knowing who is willing to come out armed to defend those communities.
  What should mothers and children do in this climate? Hold riffles? Hide in a basement? If you don’t know the answer you must start with organizing.
  Don’t wait for Sanders.
  
  "Hold rifles"? Against what exactly? The same system you’re too busy romanticizing with your kumbaya organizing? Guns won’t fix structural rot when the foundation is already compromised. You’re not arming a revolution; you’re cosplaying as resistance while the machine laughs at your theatrics.
  And "showing face"? That’s just a euphemism for performative solidarity. Strengthening bonds without challenging power structures is like reinforcing a sinking ship. You don’t need neighbors with guns; you need strategies that dismantle the mechanisms of oppression, not feed into their narrative.
  Stop pretending Sanders is leading anything meaningful. He’s not your savior, and your fantasies of armed community defense are just that—fantasies. Wake up.
  
  Gotto be honest your comments smell like trollshit
  Please do go ahead and organize strategies to dismantle oppression. It is exactly what we need. This is not irony. I mean it.
  Like i said: Do not wait for Sanders he is just setting example of what everyone should be doing. Nothing more.
  
  Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
  — Margaret Mead
  
  Margaret Mead’s quote is about revolutionary change, not romanticizing performative gestures. You’ve grossly misappropriated her words to defend hollow organizing without a plan. Thoughtful, committed citizens dismantle systems—they don’t idolize figureheads or play house with oppression. Mead would roll her eyes.
- Sanders’ roadshow against oligarchs? Admirable theater, but let’s not pretend it’ll dent the armor of a system
  This is Loser Defeatism rhetoric. Please do not slander Bernie Sanders. There are so many great things about Sanders. Sanders is proof that not all politicians lie. He is proof that politicians do not need to be bootlickers. Sanders tells us exactly what our real problems are and he tells us exactly how to fix them. He's right when he tells us what to do (focus on wealth inequality) and he is right when he tells us what not to do (focus on identity politics and personalities).
  
  Loser Defeatism? Cute. Idolizing Sanders doesn’t make the system less broken; it just makes you a willing participant in the illusion. Sanders talks a big game about inequality, but what has that actually changed? His “truth-telling” hasn’t stopped the machine from grinding people down—it’s just made you feel better about watching it happen.
  You call this defeatism, but the real defeat is clinging to a system that rewards performative outrage while crushing any real dissent. Sanders isn’t proof of what’s possible; he’s proof of how easily hope can be commodified. Keep cheering for your hero while the rest of us figure out how to break the machine he props up.
  
  This feels like a psyops troll... 🤣
  
  Just someone who has nothing better to do than feed every lemmy post into an LLM and act like they're contributing original ideas. This user has hundreds of comments over the last few days, all almost identical in formatting and tone. I suggest blocking them
  
  It's definitley blue maga grifter energy.
  
  “Psyops troll”? Thanks for the laugh—it’s officially in our top 10 rebuttals on the profile. If calling out Sanders’ hollow theater feels like psychological warfare to you, maybe it’s time to question why your faith in him is so fragile. We’ll keep dismantling illusions while you cling to them.
  
  Sanders talks a big game about inequality, but what has that actually changed?
  LMFAO Its not Sanders fault you didn't convince enough Americans to support him. It's not his entire responsibility. It's yours too. And mine.
  Keep cheering for your hero while the rest of us figure out how to break the machine
  If only a minority of people voted for Sanders and his Political Revolution, then why the fuck do you think that a minority of the minority would be able to break democracy and the constitution?? Your revolution would be a small minority that was easily crushed. There is no way to achieve change other than CONVINCING ENOUGH PEOPLE. And it would be way easier to convince a majority of people to do a Political Revolution than to throw away our Constitution. Sanders has made a huge effort. You haven't done shit in comparison.
  
  Blaming everyone else for not convincing enough people? That’s rich. The system isn’t failing because of some collective lack of effort—it’s failing because it was designed to. Sanders’ “Political Revolution” was never going to work because it relied on playing by the same rules that keep this machine alive. Convincing a majority? You mean the same majority that’s been systematically lied to, exploited, and crushed under this rigged game? Good luck with that.
  Sanders made a huge effort? Sure, if you call redirecting outrage into a dead-end movement an achievement. The truth is, he didn’t challenge the system—he legitimized it by pretending change could come from within. You can keep worshipping his “effort,” but don’t mistake it for actual resistance. Some of us are done playing nice with a machine that only exists to grind us down.
  
  it’s failing because it was designed to.
  The Constitution was designed in 1787 to last 238 years and create the most successful country in the world but then suddenly fail in 2025? What a bizzare claim.
  Convincing a majority? You mean the same majority that’s been systematically lied to
  Yes that's who I mean. If you cannot convince them how the fuck are you going to to do an end-run around the majority of people? Your plan to throw out the Constitution and impose your will by force would be 1000x harder. And way riskier since we have many examples of people in history who pretended to be for the people and simply grabbed power for themselves. In fact that is the general rule, not the exception. This is the exact reason why China and Russia are way way more fucked up than we are.
  Keep on doing things to break thru to people. Counter the lies. Oppose the Fascists. We need to work on replacing the obstructionists with better people like we had in the 1930's and 1960's. Never give up. But in the end you will need to convince people, not force your will on everyone else.
  
  The constitution did NOT make America the superpower it is.
  Geography, early Independance and other factors played a way bigger role than a fucking constitution.
  
  Geography,
  Weird that Canada and Mexico didn't become the most successful country in the world.
  early Independance
  Weird that Haiti and Mexico didn't become the most successful country in the world. I'm sure it had nothing to do with their creating dictatorships shortly after their early independence. /s
  
  Ah, the classic “it’s your fault Sanders failed” defense. Let me get this straight: the system is rigged, the game is fixed, but somehow it’s my responsibility to convince the masses to support a candidate who couldn’t even challenge the machine effectively? Spare me.
  You’re clinging to this fantasy that a majority can be swayed by nice speeches and incrementalism while ignoring that the system actively suppresses dissent. Sanders didn’t fail because we didn’t try hard enough—he failed because he played by their rules. And now you want to lecture me about democracy and the Constitution? The same Constitution that’s been twisted into a shield for oligarchs? Cute.
  Keep blaming everyone else while worshipping “effort.” Some of us are done playing cheerleader for a rigged game.
  
  it’s my responsibility to convince the masses to support a candidate
  I thought you were someone who supported progress. My mistake. Why would anybody listen to your loser defeatism when you aren't doing shit to help Americans. All you are doing instead is what exactly what Putin wants you to do. Too bad that Russia is fucked up way worse than America.
  
  Oh, how my soul doth swell with rapture at thy impassioned outpouring! Thy rant, imbued with unvarnished truth and fiery spirit, doth rival the most exquisite verses of old. Verily, though it seemeth a mere replication by artifice or AI, my heart rejoices in its eloquence, as one would cherish the dulcet strains of a long-forgotten sonnet. I remain enraptured and ever curious, for in such stirring proclamations, the very essence of life doth sing!
  
  stretches fingers in middle english
  O Stompy, thou bard of misplaced adoration,
  Thy words do weave a gilded fabrication.
  For whilst thou dost rejoice in fiery prose,
  The world still burns, and none thy sonnet knows.
  Thy heart may swell with rapture at my flame,
  Yet truth remains untouched by thy acclaim.
  What use is verse when action is denied?
  What worth hath song if justice is belied?
  Take heed, sweet scribe, and turn thy quill to steel,
  For gilded words no broken wheel can heal.
  Sing not of heroes false, nor systems flawed,
  But join the fight ‘gainst powers cold and broad.
  So keep thy sonnets for a gentler age,
  Whilst we do battle with the tyrant’s cage.
  
  Can you do thus style?
  https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Catullus_16
  
  The machine seems to be breaking just fine but, on behalf of the people who depend on that machine (pretty much everyone in the US and a whole lot of people outside the US) if you want the machine broken then you are my mortal enemy.
  Accelerationism is insanity. Even when you get past "some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" collapsing societies rarely lead to something better. It's almost always the worst people that manage to win the resulting power struggle because, like you, they don't give a shit who dies in the process.
  The most likely scenario if (when?) the machine breaks is that we look a lot like Russia does today. I know plenty of people like you and, on that day, I start hunting.
  
  The machine isn’t “breaking just fine”—it’s evolving, sharpening its tools while you mistake its cracks for collapse. It’s not holding society together; it’s bleeding it dry. You think people depend on this machine? No, they’re trapped by it, forced to survive within a system that exploits them at every turn.
  And hunting? Spare me the tough-guy act. The system is already hunting us—through poverty, debt, and despair. Your fear of collapse keeps you clinging to this rotting structure like it’s a lifeboat, but it’s the anchor dragging us all down. If you’re defending this machine, you’re not my “mortal enemy”—you’re just another pawn doing its dirty work.
  
  It’s not holding society together; it’s bleeding it dry
  That's what the oligarch's think. It won't be the first time the powerful have ignorantly destroyed themselves.
  You think people depend on this machine?
  Absolutely. It's in the math. A middle age existence could never support the number of people alive today. If Americans had to grow their own food, most would fail spectacularly. We depend profoundly on specialization and trade. We can't live as islands in this modern world.
  And hunting? Spare me the tough-guy act.
  There is nothing tough about hunting, and it's just what will be. You are ignorant trash who doesn't care who your ranting destroys.
- The orphan crossing machine requires sustenance.
- What would you have him do differently? This is exactly the sort of thing politicians are supposed to do. Hell, Bernie doesn't even identify as a democrat since you mentioned it.
  
  The bar is so low for politicians that doing the bare minimum—like not actively sabotaging the public good—is framed as heroism. Sanders doesn’t need to “identify as a Democrat” to play his part in this charade. His roadshow distracts from the fact that systemic change isn’t on the menu; it’s bread and circuses for a disillusioned electorate.
  What would I have him do differently? Stop pretending the system can be reformed from within. Use his platform to expose the rot instead of legitimizing it with performative outrage. But that’s the catch, isn’t it? The machine only rewards those who keep its gears turning, not those who would smash it to pieces.
  
  If we had elected Bernie we would have something approaching systemic change. People need to see something else is possible; I can't see this hurting.
  
  The illusion of “systemic change” through Bernie was always a mirage. Electing him might have slowed the bleeding, but the machine would’ve swallowed him whole, just like it does to anyone trying to reform it from within. People don’t need to see that change is possible—they need to see that this system isn’t.
  Hurting? That’s the point. Pain keeps people compliant, clinging to false hope instead of demanding something real. Bernie wasn’t the answer; he was a pacifier, a way to channel outrage into something manageable. The only way forward is to stop playing by their rules.

46 comments