Joe Biden’s parting words significantly warned of oligarchy. Since, Trump has been making it our reality.

This is a piece published in Bay Currents in July, 2009 while America was recovering from the Great Recession under Barack Obama. An update follows.

OLIGARCHY

RULE BY SMALL POWERFUL ELITE

During the economic feeding frenzy, with many making fortunes, big and small and markets rising to astronomic levels, businesses were busy downsizing, eliminating jobs and cutting benefits from those still working. More and more people were finding themselves with less yet the economy kept growing; statistical growth and human suffering. The rich were growing richer at the expense of the general public who could only watch from further and further away from the seats of power; omitted from the economy in ever growing numbers.

Finally, the bubble burst. The market came tumbling down and we saw the error of our ways; the unrestrained greed that had engulfed our nation’s mindset. But now more and more people are feeling the crunch, losing their jobs, their health care, their homes.

People left out

I recently sat down to write about the growing number of people in this country left out of our economy* and their increasing numbers as we [presumably] head towards recovery. Before getting very far, I was bombarded by news reports and personal observations of the injustices amassing against the public nationwide; and to an ever greater extent, here in New York.

Each is a story unto itself but there is one theme running throughout…abuse of power to enhance the wealth and control of a few at the expense of the general public. Oligarchy, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes”.

Economic elite

Historically, this nation has always been governed by an economic elite. The founding fathers were among the wealthiest of the colonists and the primary purpose of their rebellion was to take control of their own economic destiny and keep the hands of the English out of their pockets.

Industrialization and expansion in the 19^th century brought about the need for cheap labor and people to work the land, opening the doors to mass immigration as well as the robber barons (cutthroat bankers and industrialists), enriching themselves at their expense.

The nation’s infrastructure was built and resources developed by the cruel exploitation of the new labor force. Those not of European background were treated particularly harshly. Blacks, brought here as slaves later became sharecroppers and continued to be disenfranchised and exploited to the ultimate. Asians faced particularly harsh discrimination and how can we forget the Native Americans brutally swept away by ongoing waves of expansion.

Those with ideals

Throughout though, there were those who held to the ideals. Many of the founding fathers believed in the principles laid down in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, despite the hypocrisy of slavery ever present. Throughout the period before the Civil War, abolitionists actively sought to free the slaves and better the lives of the persecuted.

Afterwards, the fight continued to bring people of color into the mainstream; a battle purged from government when the Republican Party of Lincoln was taken over by moneyed interests, eliminating the “Radical” Republicans from office and cleansing the party of principles. In reality, these “radicals” were the former abolitionists; the heroes who believed in the American ideal.

Yet, there were still those who struggled on for justice and equality. The fledgling labor movement, brutalized by corporate management with government help, was finding its legs. The Civil Rights movement, although weak, refused to die and women were fighting for their rights. And very slowly, progress was being made.

New Deal brings progress and hope

With the advent of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933, things started to move ahead at an ever increasing pace. Organized labor was recognized as a viable entity rather than just a bunch of malcontents and after World War II, the concept of equal rights for all began to take hold, culminating in the equal rights laws of the 1960’s. Women too, at this time were being seen as more than just domestic partners and the gay rights movement began to take root.

Downhill struggle

Socially, civil rights have continued to advance but otherwise the 1960’s, with all its turmoil, was the peak of enlightenment. Economically, it’s been a very different story. Since Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty went down in flames in the jungles of Viet Nam, it’s been a downhill struggle as the forces of ignorance and greed have once again asserted themselves in the “land of the free”, serving to further empower the wealthy at the expense of the rest.

Today, as the nation fights to ease its economic woes, the markets have risen well above their lows despite the continuing increase in unemployment. Efforts to create a realistic health policy are resisted by the health industry and their political shills, lest their monumental profits be compromised at the expense of good health coverage at reasonable cost. Banks are able to curtail the strict regulation necessary to prevent their dirty deeds from causing a repeat of our current ills. 

President Obama seems to be trying to do the right thing but too many in Congress seem to be in the pockets of the bankers, health industry and others who care little beyond increasing the bottom line. And the oligarchy thrives!

…and in New York

Oligarchy can surely be applied to Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s New York. Refusing to listen to the concerns of the public when they are in conflict with his own, his ear is reserved only for fellow billionaires. Virtual control of the City Council assures him his needed political support and his seeming control of the major media prevents his sins from recognition. His money keeps political opposition at bay.

Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, the most people friendly of our city-wide elected officials, spoke out against the undemocratic extension of term limits. Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Kathleen Quinn didn’t appreciate resistance and cut her office 40%, making it nearly impossible to operate. But why should the people have an advocate in Bloomberg’s New York?

Devastating cuts have been made to vital services while billions are diverted to Bloomberg’s pet projects as his followers march in step.

While transit fares rise, the MTA has given Bruce Ratner a sweetheart deal for his Atlantic Yards invasion of the surrounding community.

During these times of hardship for so many, the Rent Stabilization Board has seen fit to grant landlords a substantial rent increase.

What we see in what was once the most progressive city in the nation are deals for the rich at the expense of those who can least afford!

So what now?

We have allowed the moneyed interests to divide the American public and take away much of our piece of the economy. Should government take over vital services and exert more control over essential resources?

Theoretically, government control should be a good thing; the people we elect working on our behalf; but pandering to lobbyists, self interest and overall incompetence have undermined the purpose of serving the public. And how can we change things when the only ones who can pass laws against the legalized bribery that maintains corporate control of our government are the ones who gain the most by maintaining the status quo.

Strictly interpreted, an oligarchy is rule by more organized elite than exists in this country. However, make no bones about it, the economic elite and their political puppets are in charge and if their desires are in conflict with the needs of the people, we know who the losers will be.

*Upon publication of this article, unemployment nation-wide had just hit 9.5%…and this includes only those collecting benefits.

7/2009