Biden Delivers Farewell Address, Warning of an 'Oligarchy' and a Tech-Industrial Complex
At 8 p.m. on January 15, 2025, President Joe Biden delivered his farewell address from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., his final address to the nation from behind that desk as President.
He opened with news from earlier that day: after eight months of nonstop negotiation, Israel and Hamas had reached a cease-fire and hostage deal built on the framework he had laid out in May 2024, and he said he had directed his team to keep the incoming administration fully informed so it could carry out the plan.
Reviewing his four years in office, he cited nearly 17 million new jobs, more than any other single administration in a single term; one of the greatest modernizations of infrastructure in American history; semiconductor factories and jobs brought back to the United States; Medicare finally empowered to negotiate lower prescription drug prices; and the most significant gun safety law in 30 years, alongside violent crime at a 50-year low.
The heart of the address was a warning. He said power was being dangerously concentrated in the hands of very few ultrawealthy people, with dangerous consequences if that abuse of power were left unchecked: "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."
Echoing President Eisenhower's farewell warning about the military-industrial complex, Biden said he was equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for the country. He warned of an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, a crumbling free press and social media giving up on fact-checking, and called artificial intelligence the most consequential technology of our time, one that must be made safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind.
He set out a list of proposed reforms: reforming the tax code so billionaires pay their fair share; getting dark money out of politics; an 18-year term limit and the strongest ethics reforms for the Supreme Court; banning members of Congress from trading stock while in office; and amending the Constitution to make clear that no President is immune from crimes committed while in office.
Closing after 50 years of public service, Biden said: "Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame." Five days later, on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn in at the Capitol as the 47th President.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：拜登总统2025年1月15日在白宫椭圆形办公室发表告别演说。（白宫官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: President Biden delivers his farewell address from the Oval Office on January 15, 2025. (Official White House photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
