A Warning

In his farewell address, President Biden gave a warning to the country.

In his farewell address, President Biden gave a warning to the country about the emerging “oligarchy” that he called the “tech-industrial complex” which he believes is a threat to our democracy. Biden’s address could, in my opinion, become historic as it is very reminiscent of President Dwight Eisenhower’s warning in his farewell address about the “military industrial complex.” That was never taken seriously, which has resulted in generations of useless and enormously costly weapons, bloated and ever increasing “defense” budgets, and has directly led us to false and unjust wars from Vietnam to Iraq– based on lies for power and profit of what Eisenhower named the military industrial complex.

Wednesday night, in very similar ways, Biden said, “I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people.” Then he prophetically used language that hadn’t been considered in a long time in America. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

That very direct approach to what is happening in both our economy and our politics is, to my mind, prophetic by biblical standards and laid out the issues at stake in America in very clear and moral ways. Who has power, and who doesn’t, and how concentrations of wealth and power are actually working to deprive others of real participation, decision-making, or benefit made the president sound like one of the biblical prophets like Amos, Micah, or Jeremiah. Is that our president talking? I was not expecting anything like this, but more a list of Biden’s achievements, and wasn’t even sure I would even watch the farewell speech.

Biden did not name names in his warning, but his targets seemed clear: Donald Trump and his new partner Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is already directly intervening in Congress over domestic policy choices and who will now have his own White House office with clear access to the new President. Musk along with Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley bros are reportedly to be on the dais at Trump’s inauguration, with seats right behind the President. The tech industrial complex that Biden named in his farewell address will be well represented and quite prominent on Trump’s inauguration day.

Biden even compared them to the concentration of power over a century ago in the hands of “robber barons,” which was broken only through antitrust practices of Teddy Roosevelt and others in a new “progressive era.” The outgoing president said that those reformers “didn’t punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had to. Workers wanted rights to earn their fair share.” Not playing by the rules or making up your own as you go along is clearly the habit of the new incoming president and the tech complex of concentrated wealth and power which he is bringing in with him, and who have already shown their subservience to the new leader with meals together at Mar-a-Largo.

Biden warned, in particular, about social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI), all growing by the hour, as a growing threat to American democracy, culture, our rights, and our privacy. Those giant tech companies were his target in the speech, saying he was “concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex (emphasis added) that could pose real dangers for our country, as well.”

Biden also went directly at the issue of truth when he warned, “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling, editors are disappearing,” Biden clearly and powerfully raised his warning about losing the truth. “Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”

The truth is foundationally important to everything from raising our children and our private lives and relationships, to having informed public dialogues and important debates about decisions and policy choices in our public life and relationships to our neighbors and fellow citizens. When we lose the truth all of that is in great jeopardy.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free,” so when we suffer the loss of the truth we lose our freedom as well. Donald Trump and his Silicon Valley tech bros have literally become not just the spreaders of falsehoods but are now the enemies of truth itself. And to have the outgoing president give such attention to the importance of the truth was very significant.

Biden pointed out the dangers of unregulated social media, and AI in particular, and that without any scrutiny or restraints, both could threaten our very way of life. High tech social media and AI have unlimited potential with both some positive and some very negative consequences. Therefore public accountability is necessary to make them safe and under democratic control. Left to their own private agendas and endless profits, high tech social media and AI could change the most important things about both our economy and politics, and democracy itself.

The use of terms like “oligarchy” and robber barons” have not been used for a long time in American political discourse but Biden’s extraordinary farewell address could bring them back. It needs to.

Biden had a message to Americans on Wednesday as he prepares to leave office: stay engaged. “We have to stay engaged in the process. I know it’s frustrating. A fair shot is what makes America, America,” Biden said. “Everyone is entitled to a fair shot, not a guarantee, just a fair shot, an even playing field.” The president said that “the concentration of power and wealth ” causes division and could make people feel like it is too exhausting and ineffective to participate in democracy. He urged Americans not to give into that sentiment, “we can never lose that essential truth” of a country trying to be fair.

As a veteran of government in America, Biden testified, “After 50 years at the center of all of this, I know that believing in the idea of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society – the presidency, the Congress, the courts, a free and independent press.” He thinks all of us must call all those institutions to account. “Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances. It may not be perfect, but it’s maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years, longer than any other nation in history that’s ever tried such a bold experiment.”

At the end of his farewell address, and acknowledging that he may have limited time ahead, even as a retired president, Biden implored the American people themselves to protect democracy, where the “character of our people matter and must endure.”

I loved the ending of Biden’s farewell address, “Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too.” To clearly and directly name the most current threats to our democracy and decency by “oligarchs” with too much wealth and power is a great way to begin the new era of American politics which we are about to enter, And to pit the new concentration of both money and influence in the” tech industrial complex” against democracy for us all was an excellent way for this president to leave the national stage. The familiar ending to Biden’s speeches prevailed once again. “God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you for this honor,”

Thank you Joe, for this prophetic insight and warning to America. May we heed it.