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Columnist Elijah Ramirez calls on Penn students to lean into Joe Biden's advice in his farewell address.
Credit: Sanjana JuvvadiFollowing a disappointing loss for Democrats in the 2024 presidential election, many Americans grew unsure of what was to come for our democracy. Then, on Jan. 15, former Penn professor and President Joe Biden delivered his farewell address and confirmed what many had already feared: “I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. … Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.”
Having served 36 years as a state senator for Delaware, eight years as vice president, and four years as president, Biden could’ve used his farewell address as an opportunity to selfishly detail his nearly 50 years of service to our country. Instead, the former president illustrated key accomplishments that revolutionized our democracy while still taking the time to alert Americans of the growing presence of a concerning oligarchic movement within the American government.
Recently, 1997 College and Wharton graduate Elon Musk and 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump have begun sharing more in common than just their alma mater. Following the attempted assassination of the 47th president in July 2024, Musk publicly endorsed Trump’s candidacy. In the following months, Musk would funnel roughly $250 million into the Trump campaign in a forceful attempt to get him to the Oval Office. Additionally, during the election, Musk launched a petition targeting swing-state voters to pledge their support for Trump’s platform.
Not only did Trump’s election victory allow him to escape his 34 felony counts without any tangible consequences, but it also paved the way for Musk to obtain a role of influence over our government. Notably, Trump green-lit Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which still seems to have somewhat of a gray area in terms of its function and responsibilities. Regardless, Musk’s appointment questions the qualifications of Trump’s entire cabinet and whether the president is appointing bureaucrats who will put the interests of Americans first.
Another key takeaway from Biden’s farewell address was an allusion to the unconventional dangers of social media. Biden stated, “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation. … Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and profit.”
The abandonment of fact-checking has become commonplace. On Jan. 7, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to scrap third-party fact-checking, a practice that the company historically employed. The company replaced it with user-written “community notes,” a model that the Musk-owned and Trump-backed platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has already implemented. This shift likely comes as a result of the turbulent relationship between Trump and Zuckerberg. During the 2020 election, Zuckerberg donated $350 million to two nonprofit organizations that helped implement mail-in ballot programs, which was highly criticized by the Trump campaign.
Because of Zuckerberg’s donation to fund election offices during the 2020 election, he was widely criticized and blamed for contributing to Trump’s loss that year. As a result, during the 2024 election cycle, Trump claimed to have been “watching him closely,” threatening to imprison Zuckerberg if he engaged in similar actions. The outcome that American citizens are now forced to live with is the adoption of a platform that will turn the sphere of social media into an online battlefield of dishonesty and deception.
What many Americans didn’t expect was for Biden’s warnings to have been proven true so quickly. On Inauguration Day, many tuned in to watch Trump get sworn into office and were surprised by the presence of some of America’s wealthiest individuals. The row of tech billionaires in attendance was composed of Musk, Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, and many more of our country’s most economically influential people. The attendance of these incredibly high-profile characters is likely a reflection of how a second Trump term will favor these businessmen.
As we stand on the precipice of an uncertain four years, it’s important that we remain fully aware of our longstanding culture of advocacy — advocacy that demands respect for our liberties as free Americans ready and able to stand up for what is rightfully ours. Do not discount the irony of Trump’s inauguration having occurred on a day dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. As avid advocates for equality and justice, we cannot allow King Jr.’s legacy to be tarnished by the implementation of a dangerously oppressive oligarchy in our government. We are free and able college students, and I implore Penn students to embrace the same advocacy and fighting spirit of King Jr.
ELIJAH RAMIREZ is a College first year studying political science from El Paso, Texas. His email is elijah11@sas.upenn.edu.
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