Interview Quotes

The State of American Politics and Oligarchy

"The system is broken. Problem is his solutions will make a bad situation worse. And from a political point of view, the Democrats say, well, you know, we're going to tinker around the edges on this, do a little bit over here, but basically we're doing okay. Yeah. That's wrong."

— Bernie Sanders • 00:50:08

"The reality is that today in America, and we spend a lot of time talking about this in the book, is we have more income and wealth inequality than we've ever had in the history of the United States, okay? Now, you tell me if it's not crazy. I think it's crazy that you have one guy, Elon Musk, owning more wealth than the bottom 52% of American households."

— Bernie Sanders • 01:10:07

"Who determines what we should get outraged about? All right? So some kid with a gun walks into a shop down here and shoots somebody. We're all outraged. And we should be, okay? Crime is a serious problem. But if the heads of the fossil fuel industry lie to us day after day and are jeopardizing the well-being of billions of people on this planet, should we get outraged or should we give them an award for being great humanitarians?"

— Bernie Sanders • 01:20:24

"When we talk about oligarchy, you're talking about a small number of people with incredible wealth and power. All right? So what is their power about? Their power is not only that they control to a significant degree the entire economy."

— Bernie Sanders • 01:40:12

"So what my understanding is you have six large international conglomerates, media conglomerates that control about 90% of what the American people see, hear, and read."

— Bernie Sanders • 01:46:44

"So what oligarchy is about is not only controlling the economy, controlling the media, it is also controlling the political process."

— Bernie Sanders • 02:08:41

"Let's not be naive. No. I don't think anyone in America believes that Democrats are on the side of working class people. I mean, there's some rhetoric occasionally, but most working people don't know it."

— Bernie Sanders • 02:20:12

"Over the last 50 or so years, real inflation accounted for wages, weekly wages, for the average American worker is lower today than it was 50 years ago."

— Bernie Sanders • 02:35:09

"This is a government government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class."

— Bernie Sanders • 02:55:34

"The Democratic party is now a corporate party, which has done, in fairness, and I always say this, we have made significant advances in civil rights, in women's rights, in gay rights, and at least in environmental consciousness. Democrats deserve a lot of credit for that."

— Bernie Sanders • 02:22:45

"The central parties do not. So I think where the Democratic leadership is right now is way, way, way out of touch with where working families and the majority of the people are."

— Bernie Sanders • 03:15:10

"They understand everything. These are not dumb people. They have power and they want to keep their power."

— Bernie Sanders • 04:02:09

"The answer is to be God's, God honest with you. I don't know. I don't know."

— Bernie Sanders • 03:30:29

"When you hear how old I am, I was in Washington for the March on Washington, King's March on Washington. I heard Dr. King speak. You know what that march was called? It was called, if my memory is correct, Jobs and Freedom. Jobs actually went first."

— Bernie Sanders • 05:24:45

"So I find that many of these, quote unquote, great liberal corporate types, we struggle with them to make sure that they respect unions or they allow unions to be formed, et cetera."

— Bernie Sanders • 05:50:39

"No, it's actually quite popular among young people. And I think despite the fact that no one quite knows what it means."

— Bernie Sanders • 06:00:05

"So we have regressed in saying that if, you know, some 19-year-old kid goes to college today, doesn't have any money, leave school $50,000, $70,000 in debt."

— Bernie Sanders • 07:02:11

"What's crazy is not that everybody has healthcare. It's crazy that Elon Musk owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of households. That's crazy."

— Bernie Sanders • 07:19:04

"All right. So you start off with, what is the goal of human life? Now you're getting pretty deep, right?"

— Bernie Sanders • 08:04:30

"The goal is not just economics, is how do you create a human society?"

— Bernie Sanders • 07:55:27

"People have a right to be angry. All right. The system is broken."

— Bernie Sanders • 09:01:12

"It's not a question of great leaders. It's a question of large numbers of people participating at the grassroots level."

— Bernie Sanders • 08:40:10

"You know where I played? Aha, I got you."

— Bernie Sanders • 09:51:05

"Every bloody thing is commercialized. Yes. Everything."

— Bernie Sanders • 09:56:26

"The value system is backward. Teachers do other, teachers, primary care doctors. You know, these are some of the most important people in our country. Society stops functioning without them."

— Bernie Sanders • 08:00:57

"But you know, ultimately when you're out there on the playing field doing what you do and you're with it, at the end of the day, we are human beings. Yeah. We are. I need you. You know what? You need me. We need each other."

— Bernie Sanders • 09:12:45