The World has too many Oligarchs

Written By: - Date published: 3:27 pm, January 19th, 2025 - 14 comments
Categories: Deep stuff, Donald Trump, election 2023, election funding, tax, us politics - Tags:

Joe Biden’s final speech as president included some surprising yet refreshing commentary about the danger that wealth poses to democracy.

He said this:

That’s why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern … and that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.

He then said this:

Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.

I found myself in complete agreement with what he was saying. But it was intriguing that the outgoing President of the United States should be providing such a left wing analysis of one of the greatest threats to the world’s democracies.

Biden may have watched this recent video from Double Down News. George Monbiot has been speaking about the problem for many years but his concerns are now more relevant than ever before.

As Monbiot said oligarchs are turning their inordinate economic power into inordinate political power.

And the problem is the concentration of power in the hands of social media billionaires means that we do not have much room to move. How do we have a proper discussion about the issue when the means of having that discussion are so skewered to supporting the interests of the oligarchs? Seeing the influence that Musk, Zuckerberg and Pichai are having on the formation of Trump’s Government is concerning in the extreme.

And the conventional media is also serving the interests of the Oligarchs.

Rupert Murdoch has been doing it for decades.

Jeff Bezos’s influence on Washington Post and its refusal to endorse Harris was in his words to avoid the perception of bias. But all that it showed was his willingness to assist in the election of someone who would serve his interests. The bias was evident.

It is no wonder that faith in conventional media is plummeting.

The effects of the Oligarchs assault on democracy are plain to see. In the United States Elon Musk has effectively bought the US Government for the bargain basement price of $277 million US. Trump’s new cabinet has 13, yes 13, billionaires.

And there are feelings that the conventional rules will not be applied to them.

Elon Musk’s position as head of DOGE is said to be “outside” of the Government. If he was “inside” of Government he would be forced to sell shareholding that could create conflicts of interests. It is difficult to see how this could not include Tesla and X.

The rest of the Western World has similar problems. There seems to be a surge of far right movements throughout the world funded by already rich people wanting to have even more.

In Aotearoa New Zealand we have also seen this phenomenon. Last election’s National and Act and NZ First campaigns were well supported by wealthy business interests, many of which then gained preferential treatment under the Fast Track legislation. And the enormous funding that Atlas aligned groups like the New Zealand Initiative, the Taxpayers Union, Hobson’s Pledge and the Free Speech Union have seen huge resources being put into initiatives to either create pro business media storied or to kick up culture wars to divert attention and get everyone angry.

Changes to the tax regime for landlords has seen them benefit at the expense of the health system, the education system and the environment.

And when the Prime Minister pockets a tax free dividend from the sale of land shortly after changing the bright line test legislation with retrospective effect you have to scratch your head and wonder about what is happening to our formerly egalitarian nation.

How much wealth do these people need? Is their kleptocracy that ingrained that they have to accumulate more and more even at the cost of reasonable lives for the rest of us and the devastation of the environment?

Monbiot is right when he says that we are seeing a process where democracies are being transformed into oligarchies. And that is where we are heading unless we produce massive counter movements.

He is also right when he says that we cannot rely on bland centrist politicians to prevent this from happening. Appeasement will not work. If your program does not meet people’s needs then they will not support you. If you are not angry at what is happening then it has to be asked why not.

Monbiot describes the historical nature of the process and refers to Walter Sheidel’s book The Great Leveler. Scheidel suggested that only four forces have ever significantly reversed inequality, mass-mobilisation warfare, total and violent revolution, state collapse and devastating plagues.

I hope that Sheidel’s analysis is overly pessimistic. But the last 40 years have shown the continuous winding back of the advances that occurred following the great depression and the second world war.

During that time we have seen the wind back of workers rights, union power and social welfare support for those of us who need it, and changes to tax rates and tax laws for the benefit of the wealthy and corporations. This has happened both locally and internationally.

What will the counter movement look like?

I believe we are already seeing it. The tens of thousands marching against the fast track bill was evidence. Even more clearly the hikoi against Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill and the multitude of submissions made against the bill show a unity among progressives that I have not seen for a while.

And the unity shown between Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party is evident.

But obviously more needs to be done.

Locally and globally this debate is important. Time will tell how this develops.

14 comments on “The World has too many Oligarchs ”

  1. Descendant Of Smith 1

    We can't say we weren't warned.

    2005 and 2006 Citibank's Plutonomy memos that they have issued take down orders for years now.

    https://www.scribd.com/document/403328612/Plutonomy-Memo-by-Citigroup

    Wealth Management Focused on UHNWIs:

    This approach prioritizes personalized services, bespoke investment strategies, and sophisticated wealth preservation techniques targeted at the extremely wealthy.

    Luxury Goods and Services:

    This approach focuses on creating and marketing products and services specifically designed for the ultra-wealthy, emphasizing exclusivity, craftsmanship, and personalized experiences.

    Investment Strategies Focused on Asset Appreciation:

    This approach prioritizes investment strategies designed to maximize capital appreciation, often through high-risk, high-reward vehicles.

    Policy and Regulatory Approaches:

    This approach involves governmental and regulatory actions that either directly or indirectly favor the concentration of wealth. This might involve tax policies favoring capital gains over income, deregulation benefiting large corporations, or a lack of progressive taxation.

    https://quarante.cfan.eu/files/textbooks/Files/G4N0/download/Citigroup-Plutonomy-Memo-Pdf.pdf

  2. adam 2

    The Robber Barons have been at it for a while, and I find the irony of one puppet of the formed oligarchy, decrying other parts of the oligarchy – a bit sickening. But that said at least he said something – which is better than sitting on his hands.

    The following video will upset hard core liberals (of the left and right). It's time to face reality, authoritarian is what the worlds largest empire is.

  3. tWig 3

    I found it very telling that Nicola Willis last year rightly claimed that her government were going ahead with some policy or other, "because it's what our supporters want".

    Note, 'supporters', NOT 'those who voted for us'. She was telling the truth. The changes were bought by the Nats' campaign funders.

    As it was in front of media cameras, I wished some reporter had challenged her at the time on air.

    • tc 3.1

      Who gets challenged anymore ?

      They show up, record and then regurgitate it.

      They document what the powers want us to know not hold them to account these days.

      Another useful tool.

  4. Ad 4

    We used to have tame ones like Todd's and Fletchers and Hortons.

    Now we have Mowbrays and Thomsons and Bayleys and they are so much more overt.

  5. Mike the Lefty 5

    The frightening thing is that the oligarchs increasingly see themselves as the rulers, not simply being the manipulators of the rulers any more. They have managed to convince the masses that money is the root of all good and not the root of all evil

  6. thinker 6

    In 1960, Eisenhower essentially made the same speech about the military industrial complex and it pretty much came to pass, imho.

    Once you have amassed a certain wealth, more wealth is only useful for building a power base.

    But, what on earth could these people want that they can't already afford?

  7. mikesh 7

    Bernie Sanders, with the backing of many small donations, had a good chance of being elected but the two party system put paid to his chances: he had to belong to one of the two major parties, and the party he chose to belong to blocked his candidacy. It seems that in the USA the grip on the political system that those two parties have is part of the problem.

  8. Champaign Socialist 8

    Gary Stephenson – What does Elon Musk want?

    Why does Elon Musk support migration for his own companies while supporting anti-immigration political parties around the world?

  9. SPC 10

    Trump spent the latter 2 years of his undergraduate degree at the Wharton School of Economics.

    Joseph Wharton supported tariffs and opposed anti-trust measures (thus was for an internal oligarchy). He first had a Nickle and Dime monopoly, then bought Bethlehem Steel to male pig iron – thus the hogwharton school. One of his last acts was to meet the Kaiser.

    And onto the land of the brave – the grand-son of the Bavarian. The Animal Farm of the Un-American – the rule of the strong man pig of the big apple. First among the "reich/rich" oligarchs.

    The great dictator re-made as a reel life new world cartoon.

  10. PsyclingLeft.Always 11

    Ever increasing..spiralling upwards to what end?

    Billionaire wealth rises $3 trillion in 2024, at a rate three times faster than year before, Oxfam finds

    Calls for wealth tax on Australian billionaires

    Australia's 47 billionaires make an average A$67,000 an hour, according to the report – a figure 1300 times higher than that of the average Australian worker.

    And, as we who are aware know….

    the richest 1 percent owns 45 percent of the world's wealth.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/539455/billionaire-wealth-rises-3-trillion-in-2024-at-a-rate-three-times-faster-than-year-before-oxfam-finds

    What are our NZ Political parties thinking? Actually gonna do? TBH I really need to see some positive movement on this before I give my support to any…

  11. stephen bradley 12

    Auckland Library system has a number of free up to date analysis books covering the situation we are in now, how we got here, and how we and our planet get out of our progressive crushing by capitalism.

    A few I've read recently are:

    Jason Hickel, Less is More: How degrowth will save the world

    Andreas Malm, How to blow up a pipeline

    Andreas Malm and Wim Carton, Overshoot: How the world surrendered to climate breakdown

    Jonathon Taplin, The End of Reality: How Four Billionaires are selling out our future

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