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In his farewell speech, Biden warned the nation of an oligarchy of tech billionaires. And currently, Senator Bernie Sanders is embarking on a tour straight-up called “Fighting Oligarchy.” An oligarchy is a government dominated by the wealthy. But one 2014 study concluded that we’ve been an oligarchy for decades, pulling survey data from as early as 1981.
Researchers at Princeton and Northwestern found that “economic elites ...have substantial independent impacts on [U.S.] government policy.” In contrast, “average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.” But that isn’t surprising. We watched Elon Musk’s super PAC spend $200 million on Trump’s campaign. Musk now oversees Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). What’s long been happening behind the scenes is now shamelessly on display.
Though super PACs emerged in 2010, PACs have influenced elections for decades. Police enforce legal decisions swayed by corporate elites. Those decisions impact our lives without our input. Since 2014, billionaires have enjoyed “stratospheric levels of wealth,” while our wages can’t keep up with the cost of living.
In theory, the law keeps things from going too far — like a coup. Unfortunately, that’s the same law that has systematically disenfranchised us.
If you understand how race and class allow some people to accumulate privilege, power, and wealth, you already understand who this country’s oligarchs are. The first step to resisting oligarchical violence is acknowledging it’s been here.