Government of the Rich, by the Rich, and for the Rich.

[Octafish]

9. You are most welcome, think. The Plutocrats vs. The Oligarchs

It's like a two-party system where the rich get richer and the rest of us pay for it.

Plutocrats v. Oligarchs

by DAVID ROSEN
CounterPunch, MAY 2, 2014

EXCERPT...

The term “oligarchs” is gaining currency in the U.S. Sanders defined them as “a small number of very wealthy families who spend huge amounts of money supporting right-wing candidates who protect their interests.” He means to differentiate this “small number” from the larger world of the rich and superrich, the plutocrats, who – as a class – have long exercised considerable influence on the U.S. political system. Who are these oligarchs and how do they different from today’s plutocrats? And how does this generation of oligarchs differ from previous generations of the superrich who, over the last century, have dominated American politics?

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Oligarchy is defined as “government by the few” and came into English use around 1570. The term derives from two Greek words: oligos meaning “few” and arch for “rule”; similar English-language terms include monarch or hierarchy. Plutocracy is derived from the Greek ploutos meaning “wealth” and kratos for “govern.”

Today, both concepts — plutocrats and oligarchs — refer to the growing influence the rich – and especially the superrich – have on the national (and international) political economy. Oligarchs are plutocrats who use their enormous wealth to further a particularly conservative, if not rightwing, agenda.

SNIP...

Today’s grand plutocrats include the Walton family, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson. They makeup seven of the top 11 wealthiest Americans: Charles Koch ($36 bil), David Koch ($36 bil), Christy Walton ($35.4 bil), Jim Walton ($33.8 bil), Alice Walton ($33.5 bil), Samuel Robson Walton ($33.3 bil) and Adelson ($28.5 bil). This is real money.

These plutocrats become oligarchs by employing their vast wealth in an apparently more aggressive – and conservative – way then, for example, Gates, Buffet or Bloomberg. The Koch brothers are major backers of the Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity; they are reported to have donated an estimated $196 millions to fight the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Waltons have led the charge against public education, committing an estimated $1 billion promoting privatization – no teachers’ union or community accountability — through charter schools. Adelson famously holds court for Republican presidential hopefuls who visit his Las Vegas castle to kiss his ring and proclaim their undying support for Israel.

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America is stuck. The “American Century” is over and globalization is restructuring capitalism. The rich are getting phenomenally richer while the income of the rest of Americans stagnates or falls. Both American plutocrats and oligarchs are fighting to hold on to — and increase! — their wealth and influence during this restructuring. And they are succeeding.

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/02/plutocrats-v-oligarchs/

Oh well! Win, as long as we act like Howard Keel in "The War Wagon" as Levi Walking Bear, who said he was just a "Dumb Indian" until he got smart and took up the ways of the White man: "Grab all you can, any time you can."