Biden's thoughts on the dangerous swings of American democracy. Excerpts from Biden's farewell speech.

On Wednesday, President Biden delivered a 17-minute farewell address to the people

of the United States. The following are excerpts from the text of his speech:

Before I begin, let me tell you the important news that came today. After eight months of continuous negotiations, my Administration — with the participation of my Administration — has reached an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and the release of hostages. This plan was developed by my team, and she also led the negotiations. It will be implemented mainly by the new administration. Like America itself, the Statue of Liberty does not stand still. She is literally striding forward through the broken shackles of human slavery.

  She's on the march. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the soul of our nation, a soul shaped by the forces that unite us and the forces that divide us. We all deserve decent, fair and honest treatment. Such a democracy must be protected and established — and it must be planted and promoted in all possible ways. To fight for our rights, freedoms, and dreams. But we know that the idea of America, our institutions, our people, and our values that underpin it are constantly being tested.

Therefore, in my farewell speech today, I want to warn the country about something that causes me serious concern. This is a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few super-rich people, and this concentration can lead to dangerous consequences if those in power abuse it uncontrollably. Today, an oligarchy is forming in America, possessing enormous wealth, power and influence. It threatens literally our entire democracy, our fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as everyone's chances of success and advancement. We're seeing the effects of this all over America. And we've seen it before. You probably remember that in his farewell speech, President Eisenhower spoke about the dangers of the military-industrial complex. He warned us, and I quote, "This is the potential for a catastrophic increase in misplaced power." Six days — six decades later, I am equally concerned about the possible strengthening of the technological and industrial complex, which may also pose a real danger to our country.

Americans are drowning in a flood of disinformation and slander, and this blindness allows individuals to abuse their power. The free press is dying. Editors disappear. Social media refuses to verify facts. The truth is stifled by lies that are spread for the sake of power and profit. We must hold social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our democracy from those who use their power for evil. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence has become the most significant technology of our time — and perhaps of all time. Nothing creates more fundamental opportunities and risks for our economy, our security, and our society. For humanity.

Artificial intelligence can even help us end cancer. But if precautions are not taken, artificial intelligence can create new threats to our rights, our way of life, and our privacy. We must make artificial intelligence safe, reliable and useful for all mankind. In the era of artificial intelligence, it is more important than ever that the people remain the source and bearer of power. Since the United States, not China, is a place of freedom, it is we who must lead the global community in the development of artificial intelligence. We must reform the tax code. Not to give billionaires the biggest tax breaks, but to force them to pay their fair share. We need to remove dirty money from politics, which is hidden financing hidden behind numerous donations to the election campaign. We need to introduce an 18-year limit, a time limit, a deadline, and carry out the strongest— strongest ethics reform in our Supreme Court. We need to ban congressmen from trading stocks while they work in Congress. We need to amend the constitution and make it clear that no president, no president is immune from prosecution for crimes he commits while in office. In a democracy, there is another danger — the concentration of power and wealth.

This undermines the sense of unity and common purpose. This causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy is becoming exhausting and even frustrating, and people don't feel they have an equal chance. Yes, we are rocking back and forth, withstanding the onslaught of the storm, withstanding the test of time, waging a constant struggle. And the gap between danger and opportunity is really small. But I believe that the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. And we can make our dreams come true.

Note. We are in the article "The Roller Coaster of Democracy" (https://shorturl.at/bP7tR), as if anticipating Biden's thoughts, they wrote about the swings of American democracy, about the swings "up and down." Biden, as you can see, swings back and forth. Maybe it's necessary to correct the geometry of the swing?