Modern Wisdom

#1010 - Bernie Sanders - Who Actually Runs the US Government?

October 23, 2025

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  • The primary fight Senator Bernie Sanders is currently engaged in, as discussed on Modern Wisdom's episode #1010, is against the unprecedented level of income, wealth inequality, and billionaire control in the US, which he terms 'oligarchy.' 
  • Real, inflation-adjusted weekly wages for the average American worker have declined since 1973, while simultaneously, a $75 trillion wealth transfer has occurred from the bottom 90% to the top 1%, with essential costs like healthcare and education skyrocketing. 
  • The Democratic Party's perceived abandonment of the working class by prioritizing other issues over economic needs (like supporting trade deals that cost manufacturing jobs) has led working-class voters to feel abandoned and, consequently, vote for Donald Trump. 
  • Senator Sanders views the actions of ICE under Trump's directive, including undocumented pickups, as horrific and part of a broader authoritarian movement, drawing parallels to the deployment of the military in cities like Portland. 
  • There is a serious crisis regarding fatherlessness and the struggles of young men, evidenced by higher incarceration rates and lower college graduation rates for boys from non-intact families, which the political Left has largely failed to address. 
  • Bernie Sanders' primary concern keeping him up at night is the future of American democracy due to a megalomaniacal, lying president serving oligarchs, necessitating a strong grassroots movement to counter this trend. 

Segments

Oligarchy and Economic Struggle
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(00:00:21)
  • Key Takeaway: The US is experiencing unprecedented income/wealth inequality and billionaire control, defining the current political fight as one against oligarchy.
  • Summary: Sixty percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, struggling with healthcare, childcare, and housing costs, despite living in the richest country. Since 1973, real inflation-adjusted wages for the average worker are lower, while a $75 trillion wealth transfer has moved from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. This concentration of wealth and power is identified as oligarchy.
Cost of Living Disparities
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(00:02:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Consumer goods like TVs have drastically decreased in price, but critical necessities like healthcare and education have increased by 200% over the last 25 years.
  • Summary: Consumer goods prices have broadly increased by about 74% since 2000, with TVs nearly 100% cheaper. Conversely, healthcare and education costs have skyrocketed by 200%, illustrating a severe imbalance in essential spending. Housing costs are also noted as being ‘off the charts,’ preventing young people from affording homes.
Healthcare System Critique
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(00:03:33)
  • Key Takeaway: The US healthcare system is dysfunctional, spending three times more per person than the UK while yielding worse international health outcomes, including shorter life expectancies.
  • Summary: The US spends twice as much per capita on healthcare as the average OECD country but results in lives that are three to four years shorter. Eighty-five million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and finding a doctor can be difficult even with decent insurance. This system is described as enormously expensive and broken.
Campaign Finance Corruption
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(00:18:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Politicians spend excessive time fundraising from wealthy donors, leading to a corrupt campaign finance system where billionaires use Super PACs to elect candidates favorable to their interests.
  • Summary: Politicians in both parties spend significant time raising money instead of focusing on national crises, making them beholden to wealthy donors. The Citizens United Supreme Court decision allows billionaires to inject hundreds of millions into Super PACs, effectively buying elections. Eliminating this requires overturning Citizens United and moving toward public funding of elections.
Democratic Party Splits
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(00:22:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The Democratic Party is divided between the establishment, which courts corporate money, and progressives who focus on grassroots mobilization, leading to the party abandoning the working class.
  • Summary: The Democratic Party, historically the party of the working class, began shifting in the 1970s by courting corporate America and the wealthy. This shift resulted in a failure to effectively fight for the working class on issues like healthcare and education costs. Consequently, many working-class voters feel abandoned and are now voting for Donald Trump.
Identity Politics as an Own Goal
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(00:50:08)
  • Key Takeaway: While fighting for social issues like women’s rights is crucial, the Democratic Party’s disproportionate focus on identity politics, without strong economic messaging, has been an ‘own goal’ that alienates the working class.
  • Summary: Fighting bigotry and for women’s rights are enormously important, but politicians must also address working-class economic needs simultaneously. When the focus on identity issues overshadows economic concerns, it becomes difficult to resonate with the broader electorate. The success of ads like ‘Kamala is for they, them; Trump is for you’ highlights this disconnect.
Authoritarianism and Demagoguery
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(00:54:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Demagogues like Trump successfully redirect public frustration over real economic pain toward powerless minorities rather than addressing systemic issues like housing or healthcare crises.
  • Summary: Demagogues do not address the real problems facing the majority; instead, they demonize a powerless minority (historically blacks, gays, or currently undocumented immigrants). This tactic diverts attention from systemic failures like the housing crisis or healthcare collapse. The current actions of Trump, such as using federal agents aggressively, are seen as part of a dangerous authoritarian trend.
Birth Rate Decline and AI Future
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(00:39:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The declining birth rate is a creeping crisis that young people attribute to economic burdens like childcare costs and climate change anxiety, potentially leading to extreme centralization of power via AI/robotics.
  • Summary: Young people cite the high cost of childcare as a major barrier to having children. Furthermore, concerns about climate change are causing hesitation among young couples about bringing children into the future world. If robotics and AI replace decent-paying jobs, the economy could become entirely dependent on a handful of multi-billionaire-controlled companies.
ICE Tactics and Authoritarianism
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(00:56:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Uncredentialed individuals engaging in street pickups and deportations, sometimes resembling vigilante action, are linked by Sanders to authoritarianism under Trump’s direction.
  • Summary: The segment details reports of masked individuals, sometimes in plain clothes, picking up people off the street and throwing them into vans for deportation, which Sanders equates to horrific actions under Trump’s directive. This behavior is compared to the deployment of the military into cities like Portland, Oregon, as a means of control. The discussion highlights the violation of due process, contrasting these actions with the American history of requiring arrests to follow legal procedure.
Fatherlessness and Male Crisis
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(00:58:38)
  • Key Takeaway: Fatherlessness is a stronger predictor of incarceration than race or poverty, and young men from non-intact families are statistically more likely to end up in prison than graduate college.
  • Summary: Statistics presented indicate that boys raised without their biological fathers are twice as likely to be incarcerated by age 30, making fatherlessness a critical social predictor. Furthermore, young men raised in any non-intact family structure face a higher probability of incarceration than college graduation, regardless of family income. Sanders agrees this constitutes a serious crisis, emphasizing the need to create conditions for young people to become good parents.
Left’s Neglect of Men’s Issues
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(00:59:48)
  • Key Takeaway: The political Left has historically focused on women’s equality, leading to a current blind spot where men’s issues are ignored or men are perceived as the problem, contributing to their alienation.
  • Summary: The historical focus on rectifying women’s status as second-class citizens has shifted, and now young men are feeling neglected, exemplified by college enrollment ratios showing two women for every man earning a degree. Richard Reeves’ data suggests that disparities on campuses are now worse than when Title IX was enacted, but the Left has failed to address these male-specific issues. This neglect is cited as a reason young men are turning away from the Democratic party, viewing it as elite neglect rather than voter chauvinism.
Concerns Over Democracy and Trumpism
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(01:05:58)
  • Key Takeaway: Senator Sanders’ greatest fear is the erosion of American democracy due to a megalomaniacal president who serves oligarchs, necessitating a strong grassroots movement to defend constitutional power.
  • Summary: What keeps Bernie Sanders up at night is the worry that the United States may cease to be a democracy due to a president who is a pathological liar and works for the benefit of the wealthy elite. He sees ominous trends where people, worried about AI, job loss, and climate change, are susceptible to a leader promising to take care of everything, thereby undermining democratic society. The countermeasure involves developing a strong grassroots movement to assert that power rests with the people, not an aspiring strongman.