What Does It Mean to Live in an Oligarchy?

When I took World History in high school, my very gifted teacher introduced the word “oligarchy” to our class. We were talking about the Middle Ages when a few nobles and clergy ruled the many people of Europe. How ordinary people’s lives unfolded was like a roll of the dice: if you were born in a community in which a noble or clergyman was somewhat interested in the quality of life enjoyed by ‘his’ people, then laws might be enforced somewhat consistently and people might have at least a chance of living decent lives. But if you happened to be born into a community in which nobles and/or the clergy were more interested in lining their sleeves with ermine and displaying jewels around their necks, you were in for a bumpy ride. You were going to starve to keep them in kid leather, delicacies for their tables, and glittering residences where they could throw parties for their friends. Oligarchs were never elected; they were born into their roles.

Sound familiar?

Oligarchy is not just for the Middle Ages anymore. Oligarchy is the term that best describes the current form of social control in the United States.

How else can we explain a country in which the will of the majority is set aside time and time again so that existing corporate interests can continue to fill their bank accounts?

How else are we to understand a country where elected leaders seem unable or unwilling to stand up to corporate interests, and who put the vast majority of Americans at risk by embracing economic policies that threaten U.S. citizens and what is most precious to us: our air, our water and our land?

How else do we explain a country in which a citizen’s political rights evaporate as soon as he walks within an employer’s walls? Where unions for the vast majority of working people have been undermined and no comparable employee collective bargaining system has replaced them? And where the rule of economic interests has grown so bold that they publish on their employee web pages requirements that employees not exhibit behavior or speech that would in any way undermine the goals of the company for whom they work?

How else can we understand a system in which the popular vote does not get us the president we want, or a system of government in which unelected government advisers have such influence over the development of public policy?

Those oligarchs who purport to rule us believe we are sheep. They believe we are incapable of understanding the complicated problems that we face. They behave as if they are certain that only they know what we—and our country—truly need.

We need to learn from what other countries have faced in recent times. When revolutionaries in South Africa finally ousted the white South African government and pulled Nelson Mandela out of prison, the world rejoiced. Finally, this country would be returned to the vast majority of its citizens. Unfortunately, the new government agreed—or was coerced—into accepting the advice of powerful economic interests in the country. Those interests claimed for themselves the control of economic power in South Africa. Those interests stymied the new government from making true economic change in the country and South Africa as a result is still trying to realize the dream of its revolution. A new government cannot effect change without the ability to direct its economic reality.

The same dynamic has been playing out all over the globe: in Greece, Spain, Italy, in many African countries, and those in South America. The governments in all of these countries have lost control of their economic systems. Their policies are being dictated to them by bankers or powerful corporations who insist that their economic well being is more important than the well being of the people.

Corporations are not people. Corporations are paper fictions that have been endowed with power.  They are designed to focus only on improving the bottom line. At least oligarchs of old were human beings. If they saw suffering they might temper their greed with concern for others. But corporations are not human. Their reason to exist, as defined by corporate mission statements, is to secure the most profit for their shareholders and/or owners. Managers must be creative indeed to bring public good into the picture. We are back to the Middle Ages when we must hope that ‘enlightened’ corporate CEO’s will consider the fate of citizens and their land—and not just corporate profit margins. Profit before people is the slogan for these entities. People with little forethought created these monstrosities and people with more wisdom should dissolve them.

Did you vote ‘yes’ on a referendum that created a U.S. oligarchy? Did you find yourself persuaded by a public debate in which the merits of oligarchy were discussed? Is your life better since corporate power and corporate dollars took over our country?

If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, you owe it to yourself to reclaim your power—and your voice.

The oligarchies of the middle ages were replaced, eventually, with governing systems that gave more of a voice to the people. We have been on a journey ever since to increase the amount of democratic participation in our systems of government. Sometimes the journey included smoke and mirrors, when we were given the illusion of democracy even as powerful economic forces actually controlled the government from backrooms. But today even a semblance of democracy is disappearing and it’s growing more and more difficult to pretend that the democratic ideals upon which this nation was founded—at least for some of its inhabitants—have anything to do with how decisions are being made.

If there is an issue facing your family, or your country, that you believe needs to be discussed, add your voice to the debate and don’t be shy about it. Write letters. Lots of them. Call elected representatives. Attend protests. Object loudly.

And most of all—if you can—get out from under the economic machine in whatever ways you can. Reclaim your power and your independence. Raise your voice. Take back your country. Discover what is means to live with dignity once more. Stop living in economic servitude. Stop living in fear. There are a lot more of us than there are one-percenters. We’ve just forgotten this lately.