Curt Flewelling, FISM News
In a move that can be described as paradoxical, Ticketmaster is charging up to $95 per ticket for a Bernie Sanders event entitled, “It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism.”
To be fair to Ticketmaster and Sanders, the higher-priced tickets do include a copy of his book by the same name.
The program will be held on March 1 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The organizers of the event are billing it as a “progressive takedown of the uber-capitalist status quo that has enriched millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the working class.”
Many think that a millionaire profiting from assailing other millionaires is curious. Michigan Republican congressman Bill Huizenga tweeted, “Anyone else see the ‘irony’ in Bernie Sanders selling tickets for his ‘It’s Okay to Be Angry about Capitalism’ book tour on Ticketmaster?”
Criticisms such as these have steadily increased since 2016 when the senator himself achieved millionaire status. The contradiction in net worth and rhetoric became so apparent that it led him to effectively drop the word millionaire from his rants about the rich, opting to mainly focus on billionaires.
Another reason for the change in messaging came as a result of rising poll numbers for his political rival, billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Axing the “m” word from his speeches didn’t seem to help Sanders solve his conundrum of reconciling his affluence with his contempt for the wealthy.
In a Democratic debate, Mayor Bloomberg confronted Sanders about his apparent hypocrisy. Bloomberg said, “What a wonderful country we have. The best-known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses. What did I miss here?”
The Vermont senator does indeed own multiple properties and has a current net worth of approximately $3 million. This wealth has been built over the last 33 years as he has earned a very nice living as a U.S. Representative and Senator, where he currently makes $174,000 annually.
Over the years, Sanders has been compensated well for representing his constituents. A fact that seems to be rich in irony for a man that once said that it was “immoral” to him that millionaires represented the people of their states.
In addition to his earnings as a politician, he has raked in $1.7 million from book sales. His largest-selling book is “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In.”
Sanders is considered by many to be the leader of the Democratic Socialist movement in the United States. However, despite his renown, it still remains challenging for him to square his beliefs with his bank account.