--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need to change the power structure in…" description: "\"We need to change the power structure in America, we need to end the political oligarchy.\" — Bernie Sanders" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg" --- # We need to change the power structure in America, we need… ![“We need to change the power structure in America, we need to end the political oligarchy.” quote by Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg) > “We need to change the power structure in America, we need to end the political oligarchy.” [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for dismantling entrenched power and ending oligarchic control in U.S. politics. **In simple terms:** Break political oligarchy. Key Takeaway Support systemic reform. Themes politics power reform Mood determined urgent Type political activist When to use this quote - elections - activism - policy debate Key Concepts democracy oligarchy social justice Questions to Reflect On - What power structures need change? - How can citizens act? A Different Perspective Change faces entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Need a change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-a-change/) [Oligarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oligarchy/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) ## Related quotes > [Are we prepared to take on the enormous political power of the billionaire class or do we continue to slide into economic and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/are-we-prepared-to-take-on-the-enormous-political-power-of-the/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [So, President Obama wants to change America. I understand that. We dont need to change America. We need to change the White House. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-diaz-balart/so-president-obama-wants-to-change-america-i-understand-that-we-dont/) [Mario Diaz-Balart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-diaz-balart/) > [We have got to change the political culture in America. We need a political revolution. That means we are working on politics not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-have-got-to-change-the-political-culture-in-america-we-need-a/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [A life that is never willing to change is a great tragedy - a wasted life. Change is a necessary part of a growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/a-life-that-is-never-willing-to-change-is-a-great-tragedy-a-wasted/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [For things to change you need to change. For things to get better you need to get better. The good news is you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/for-things-to-change-you-need-to-change-for-things-to-get-better-you/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If our thinking is clear, how could work or money be the problem? Our thinking is all we need to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/if-our-thinking-is-clear-how-could-work-or-money-be-the-problem-our/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [I used to be very quick, I would be able to leave the room and be back before you noticed. When you can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/i-used-to-be-very-quick-i-would-be-able-to-leave-the-room-and-be-back/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [If you are going to do TPS you must do it all the way. You also need to change the way you think. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiichi-ohno/if-you-are-going-to-do-tps-you-must-do-it-all-the-way-you-also-need/) [Taiichi Ohno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiichi-ohno/) > [I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need to change you. If you can look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/i-want-to-know-if-you-are-prepared-to-live-in-the-world-with-its/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [In order to change the direction of this country, we need to change presidents. Americans need a conservative businessman to get this economy moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/in-order-to-change-the-direction-of-this-country-we-need-to-change/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don't want to believe that. But if you're over age twenty-one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/everything-you-now-do-is-something-you-have-chosen-to-do-some-people/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [ I'm willing to engage or indulge real ideas, but if we don't do something \[about global warming\], we're all going to die! What's it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cameron/i-m-willing-to-engage-or-indulge-real-ideas-but-if-we-don-t-do/) [James Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cameron/) > [Congressmen are like diapers - You need to change them often, and for the same reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-mccloskey/congressmen-are-like-diapers-you-need-to-change-them-often-and-for/) [Pete McCloskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-mccloskey/) > [The answers to our questions are everywhere; we just need to change the lens with which we see the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/the-answers-to-our-questions-are-everywhere-we-just-need-to-change/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [If there is anything in your life that takes away your happiness, you have all the power you need to change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/if-there-is-anything-in-your-life-that-takes-away-your-happiness-you/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) ## More by Bernie Sanders > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As the longest serving Independent in the history of the United States Congress, as somebody who came into office by defeating an incumbent Democratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/as-the-longest-serving-independent-in-the-history-of-the-united/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [What Wall Street and credit card companies are doing is really not much different from what gangsters and loan sharks do who make predatory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/what-wall-street-and-credit-card-companies-are-doing-is-really-not/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [What we have got to do immediately is to say that racism and xenophobia is totally unacceptable and we will stand with the 1…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/what-we-have-got-to-do-immediately-is-to-say-that-racism-and/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [In 1999, Hoffmann-LaRoche paid a $500 million criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to fix prices for certain vitamins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/in-1999-hoffmann-laroche-paid-a-500-million-criminal-fine-for-leading/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [We need a strategy. And the goal is to bring millions of people together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-a-strategy-and-the-goal-is-to-bring-millions-of-people/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [We are living at a time where a handful of people have wealth beyond comprehension - huge yachts, jet planes, tens of billions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-are-living-at-a-time-where-a-handful-of-people-have-wealth-beyond/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved on the backs of the weak and vulnerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-deficit-crisis-is-real-and-must-be-addressed-but-it-cannot-be/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The Palestinian people's needs must be respected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-palestinian-people-s-needs-must-be-respected/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Hillary Clinton wants to see that all Americans have the right to choose a public option in their health care exchange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/hillary-clinton-wants-to-see-that-all-americans-have-the-right-to/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [If you want to know if your food contains gluten, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats or MSG, you simply read the ingredients listed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/if-you-want-to-know-if-your-food-contains-gluten-aspartame-high/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [It reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/it-reminds-me-in-some-ways-of-the-debate-taking-place-in-this-country/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I am sure that there are some single payer advocates who think the only thing worth fighting for is single payer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-am-sure-that-there-are-some-single-payer-advocates-who-think-the/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The case to be made is that we have got to get people involved - continue to get people involved in the political process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-case-to-be-made-is-that-we-have-got-to-get-people-involved/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) [Explore all 853 Bernie Sanders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We need to change the power structure in America, we need to end the political oligarchy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bernie Sanders" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in-america-we-need-to-end-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "America" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in-america-we-need-to-end-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/bernie-sanders-233_america_we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in_2700691.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We need to change the power structure in America, we need to end the political oligarchy.” — Bernie Sanders", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bernie Sanders", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We need to change the power...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in-america-we-need-to-end-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-to-change-the-power-structure-in-america-we-need-to-end-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```