Aristocracy
"The ruling elites _ the membrs of the corporatocracy _ bear a disturbing
resemblance to the shah of Iran and those other dictators we empowered.
Unlike the elected presidents, premiers, or prime ministers, thaey are not chosen by the people,
do not serve limited terms, and answer to no one (they profess to report to
boards of directors, but they all serve on each other's boards and are mutually
supportive). They wield tremendous influence in the halls of both local and national governments.
Almost no politican gets elected without money that flows through them and their
stockholders. They control the mainstream media, either through direct ownership
or advertising budgets." John Perkins book Hoodwinked pg 49
"You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a
few, or democracy, but you cannot have both." -
Louis Brandeis
"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands,
partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because
technological development and the increasing division of labor
encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of
the smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of
private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively
checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is
true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political
parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private
capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate
from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of
the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the
underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing
conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or
indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education).
It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite
impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions
and to make intelligent use of his political rights." Einstein on
Politics, Rowe and Schulmann. Monthly Review, May 1949.
The most obvious criticism of the New Overclass is that
their political machine is undemocratic. Using subversive techniques
once aimed at communists, and with all the money they ever need to
succeed, the Overclass undemocratically controls our government, our
media, and even a growing part of academia. These institutions in turn
allow the Overclass to control the supposedly "free" market. It doesn't
win all the time, of course — witness Bill Clinton's impeachment trial
— but it does score an endless string of other victories elsewhere, all
to the detriment of workers, consumers, women, minorities and the poor.
We need to fight it with everything we've got.
...modern elites tend to "exercise power
irresponsibly, precisely because they recognize so few obligations to their
predecessors or to the communities they profess to lead. Thier lack of
gratitude disqualifies moritocratic elites from the burden of
leadership, and in any case, they are less interested in
leadership than escaping from the common lot--- the very definition of
meritocratic success" Christopher Lasch: The Revolt of the Elites and
Betrayal of Democracy 1995
Loosely defined, Feudalism is rule by the very wealthy. It is
the same as oligopoly. Credit goes to Republican policies like the
Reagan's and Bush tax cuts, we have
it.
Oligarchy,
American Style (11/3/2011)
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has a somewhat
different
take on taxes. Pundits have anointed Huntsman the most “reasonable”
candidate in the 2012 GOP Presidential field, and the one-time
ambassador to China, a near
billionaire himself, is certainly doing his
best to give his fellow wealthy plenty of reasons to rally his way.
Huntsman last week announced his campaign tax plan. He wants to drop
the top federal income tax rate from 35 to 23 percent and erase taxes
on dividends and capital gains from wheeling and dealing stocks and
other assets. This dividend and capital gains tax break alone, the Tax
Policy Center calculates, would save America’s richest 0.1 percent an
average $486,000 a year in taxes. From Too Much.
Six Banks
Control 60% of GNP
Wealthiest
1% Rule Our Politics, But There's Hope In the Fight Against Global
Capital.
(Note the next two paragraphs shamelessly taken from notes
to 100
Ways America is Screwing Up the World: John
Tirman.
list of
the wealthy from Forbes. On executive pay, see the
remarkable PBS show, “Now,” which did this segment
on the issue.
On charitable giving worldwide, check out this eye-opening article
from Inter-Press Service, noting that the heathens are more generous
than the faithful. Here is an interesting web site from Boston
College on wealth and philanthropy. “The people that give the most
actually make the least. Households earning under $10,000 a year -- far
below the poverty line -- gave 5.2% of their income to charity. That's
a larger percentage of their money than any other income group,” says JustGive.org.
Oligarchy USA
Aristocracy
Welfare State for the
Rich
Vast Right-Wing
Conspiracy
Video/Film
The
American Ruling Class (Watch it free on-line).
Bibliography
Pity The
Billionaire: Thomas Frank
13 Bankers: Simon Johnson
and James Kwak
American
Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House
of Bush: Kevin Phillips
What Every American Should Know About Who's Really Running the
World: Melisa Rossi
The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills (Oxford University Press,
2000 edition)
Who Rules America? Power and Politics by G. William Domhoff
The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith (Mariner, 1998
edition);
The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen
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