I recently read an interesting article on the The Conversation site……before I go into that let me define oligarchy for those that are fuzzy on just what it is…..
The political term, oligarchy, comes to English from the Greek with its meaning intact — a form of government run by a small number of people such as wealthy landowners, royalty or powerful military figures. If you say that you can’t fight the oligarchy, you mean the leaders of such a place. Sometimes the word refers to the few powerful people in charge of a large company or system. A financial oligarchy might try to block reform.
Keep that definition in the back of your mind…….
Now for the article I referred to in the beginning…..
In his farewell address, outgoing US President Joe Biden warned “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy”.
The comment suggests that, under Donald Trump’s second term as president, it will be billionaires rather than the people who shape public policy.
There is certainly some evidence Biden’s ominous caution should be taken seriously. The world’s richest man and the owner of X, Elon Musk, has been a vocal supporter of the Republican candidate. Other billionaire tech moguls to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion after his 2024 election victory include Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.
There is nothing unusual about business leaders wanting the ear of an incoming president. What has concerned Biden and others is that so many of Trump’s influential backers also own media platforms and have the ability to sway public opinion.
Should these new tech titans be thought of as oligarchs?
So will the US become an oligarchy?
It cannot become something it has always been.
From the very onset of this country it has been the ‘oligarchs’ that formed and run and continues to run this nation.
No?
Think about the definition.
… a form of government run by a small number of people such as wealthy landowners, royalty or powerful military figures.
If you have any history still rattling around your brain then you will see this is true for the ‘leaders’ of this country were the very people that the definition tells us.
What do these oligarchs want?
Bernie answers that probing question.
We we are living in an extremely dangerous time. Future generations will look back at this moment – what we do right now – and remember whether we had the courage to defend our democracy against the growing threats of oligarchy and authoritarianism. They will remember whether we stood with President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg who in 1863, looking out at a battlefield where thousands died in the struggle against slavery and stated that; “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that a government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Do we stand with Lincoln’s vision of America or do we allow this country to move to a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires?
But it’s not just oligarchy that we should be concerned about, and the reality that the three richest people in America now own more wealth than the bottom half of our society – 170 million people. It’s not just that the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, and that we have more income and wealth inequality today than we’ve ever had.
It is also that we are looking at a rapid movement, under President Trump, toward authoritarianism. More and more power resting in fewer and fewer hands.
Right now, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is attempting to dismantle major agencies of the federal government which are designed to protect the needs of working families and the disadvantaged. These agencies were created by the U.S. Congress and it is Congress’ responsibility to maintain them, reform them or end them. It is not Mr. Musk’s responsibility. What Mr. Musk is doing is patently illegal and unconstitutional – and must be stopped.
Two weeks ago, President Trump attempted to suspend all federal grants and loans – an outrageous and clearly unconstitutional act. As I hope every 6th grader in America knows, under the Constitution and our form of government the president can recommend legislation, he can support legislation, he can veto legislation, but he does not have the power to unilaterally terminate funding passed by Congress. It is Congress, the House and the Senate, who control the purse strings.
But it’s not just Congress that’s under attack. It’s our judiciary.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/12/what-the-oligarchs-really-want/
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I agree with you that it has always been so.
Best wishes, Pete.
Few think in those terms. chuq
So much to chew on for a Monday morning…yes, Trump is trying to act like a Dictator, running roughshod over every rule of law and constitutional barrier – I’ve always felt his plan is to see what he can get away with – if it works he will do it and if he is resisted, we will see if he has the political power to overcome it. It seems that his falling poll numbers, just one month after taking office, may provide the shelter needed for those other Republicans to stand up to him. He has not done one single thing to lower prices and instead is going after certain groups that support him – his decision for example to end making pennies will throw thousands of workers out of their jobs – in a deep red state that overwhelmingly supported him..these horrible decisions will perhaps help create the now non-existent backbones of those in Congress to stop his tirade
Over what rules of law and constututional barriers is Trump running roughshod ? If he was, he’d be impeached. When Bidden and dems decided not to enforce the law and open the borders to 15 million I’d say that’s pretty roughshod. That’s 15 million felonies they committed right there and the related laws violated add millions more felonies . Where’s the outrage ? Where’s the impeachment ? As far as an oligarchy is concerned billionaires have been running the country for many years. One oligarchy was the slave owners , the other the captains of industry and another in charge of the money flow. I prefer billionaires who know how to manage money with no fraud and waste and direct the taxpayer money to where it is intended than democrat ones in the hundreds who distribute money for all kinds of trash. Trump has created the most capable cabinet and advisors in our history. Oh, and none of the democrat lackies in the hundreds are elected, no accounting, no oversight and they scream over Elon who’s just one person and every move he makes is transparent. Elon does not distribute taxpaer money to anyone. The unelected democrat managerial class does. Why no outrage ?
OK go ahead and share your hatred for anyone who questions the King…lets see how you do in the next few years and get back to us then
You can’t see how our beloved America is being turned into a dictatorship? I feel sorry for you and if you are on medicare or social security it will not be long before you will be having buyers remorse over your vote along with millions of others.
I see he has slid in the polls in a month….hopefully the slide will continue. chuq
Let us expand on the Oligarchy theme for America a bit and here is how I see it shaping up — of course I am a relative nobody….just one of the smartest intellects on the planet …but aside from that here is my answer to “Is America Becoming An Oligarchy?”
I would call the system of government you are talking about as an “Oligarchical Monarchical Dictatorial Kleptocracy.
Good one chuq
To John: I don’t hate anybody. Except for the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Millions are not 150 – 200 years old and getting checks. The death may never get reported or recorded so the checks keep coming and someone cashes those checks in some fradulent scheme. Could be with inside shifting paperwork in a way that’s not traceable. So Trump’s suggestions about checks going to 200 year old people are plain silly but the fraud is fact but more probably ranges in the thousands. . Checks even get stolen from living people and crooks are somehow cashing those checks as well. Someday I’ll reveal how easy it is to steal from Medicare too.