This week’s writer is Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s senior U.S. Senator.

This is what Oligarchy looks like:

Today, while 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, three multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of American society.

Today, we have a greater concentration of ownership than we have seen since the Gilded Age. In sector after sector — financial services, health care, agriculture, transportation, energy, food, housing, etc. — fewer and fewer giant corporations control what is produced and the prices we pay.

Today, in America, we have more media consolidation than we have ever had. Some estimates claim as much as 90% of U.S. media is controlled by just six huge global conglomerates that have a defining impact on our culture and the information we receive.

Today, in America, we have a political system that is increasingly controlled by the billionaire class. In the recent elections, just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to get their candidates elected.

Our job in the coming months and years is clear. We must defeat the oligarchs and create an economy and government that works for all, not just the few.