Joe Biden Warns of ‘Dangerous Oligarchy’ and ‘Extreme Wealth’ in Farewell Speech

Joe Biden Farewell Speech: US President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, warned of the "dangerous concentration of power" in the hands of a few wealthy people.

President Joe Biden has used his final formal address as president to warn of the dangers of “oligarchy” and “extreme wealth” to democracy, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term with an administration stacked with billionaires.

“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,” Biden said in the televised address from the Oval Office in the White House on Wednesday night.

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The address was an echo of the farewell address that then-President Dwight Eisenhower delivered to the nation in 1961, in which he famously warned about the dangers of an emerging "military industrial complex." Today, Biden said, that threat that he saw was coming from a "tech industrial complex."

Biden said that the consequences of this emerging concentration of power can already be felt across the nation in myriad ways.

The fight against climate change was one of several examples he pointed to.

"Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we've taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit," Biden said. "We must not be bullied to sacrifice in the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren."

But the dangers are evident in other areas as well, the president said. While praising the achievements of U.S. advances in technology, Biden also spoke about how notions of truth are being undermined.

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"Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power," Biden said. "The free press is crumbling, editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit."

Biden spoke about artificial intelligence as the "most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time," yet simultaneously cautioned of the technology's potential dangers without adequate safeguards in place. Without those protections, he said, "AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation."

Biden also used his remarks to call for various reforms in the nation's capital. He called for "dark money" to be eliminated as a form of campaign contributions, for a ban on stock trading by members of Congress and for 18-year term limits for members of the Supreme Court.

And without mentioning President-elect Donald Trump by name, he said the Constitution should be amended "to make clear that no president — no president — is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office."

Biden will demit office on Monday when Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the country, his second term in the role.

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