Technology has an uncertain future. If we leave it in the hands of the likes of Elon Musk and other oligarchs, it will be only to the benefit of billionaires. Whereas, if we gain control of its trajectory then it can be harnessed for the benefit of working people. This was one of the core messages that Senator Bernie Sanders delivered to a packed audience at London’s Westminster Hall on May 30, 2025.
Interviewed by broadcaster James O’Brien (LBC Radio), and with popular British left-wing independent politician Jeremy Corbyn in the audience, Sanders was in inspiring form, passionately discussing U.S. politics and the major situations affecting the world today.
Sanders summarised his primary concerns as: “How can we accept an economic order that allows three billionaires to control more wealth than the bottom half of our society? How can we accept a political system that allows the super-rich to buy elections and politicians? How can we accept an energy system that rewards the fossil fuel corporations causing the climate crisis? How can we let it happen any longer? We must demand fundamental economic and political change.”
Bernie Sanders has served as a senator from Vermont since 2007. He is an independent and a self-described democratic socialist. During his run for the 2016 presidency, Sanders’ policies emphasised reducing economic inequality and expanding social programs and workers’ rights.
Sander’s most recent book is It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism, where he attempts to channel positivity against the forces that seek to wreck the lives of everyday people by championing social change.
The centre of the oligarchy in the U.S. today, stated Sanders, is Donald Trump. According to Sanders, Trump is simply in office to consolidate wealth and power according to his interests and for his associates.
As well as charting the development of technology, Sanders also laid his wrath into Musk’s actions in the White House, notably the ‘obscene’ act of the world’s richest man laying of federal employees who spent their time trying to alleviate the woes of the majority working class population across the U.S.
The importance of protecting the environment also featured heavily. Sanders said that building a green future is possible if the agenda can be wrestled away from the big energy firms, claiming there was still time to build an alternative energy programme that would help to sustain the planet if the process ceased to be dominated by multinationals focused on short-term profits.
Sanders also discussed the actions of Israel, emphasising it was permissible to critique Israel’s government and her actions without being called out as anti-Semitic. With Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and the situation in Ukraine, Sanders was especially critical of what he sees as the lies spouted by President Trump.
“In my view, the United States must seek partnerships not just between governments, but between peoples. A sensible and effective foreign policy recognizes that our safety and welfare is bound up with the safety and welfare of others around the world.”
Sanders’ critique was infused with hope – the potential exists to build a better world if Trump can be blocked (the best option being the Democrats regaining control of Congress in the mid-terms). However, to truly achieve change, Sanders said that social democratic parties – like the Democrats and the Labour Party in the UK – need to stop telling the populace that they can reform the status quo. Instead, a radical vision needs to be offered.
This needs to start with parties of the left admitting that the system cannot deliver affordable healthcare and affordable homes, or protect jobs; instead, a new way of doing things is required. As presented by Sanders, this is an interventionist economy, pro-environment and pro-workers rights. In other words, what most would call socialism.
“We must stand tall against global oligarchy, authoritarianism, devastating attacks against the working class and the existential threat of climate change. This is a moment of enormous consequence in world history. If we stand together, we can win“.
