Elon Musk and the Rise of the Alt-Oligarchy
The power wielded by Donald Trump’s renegade band of billionaires should concern any democrat.
The US is increasingly a country ruled by oligarchs who pour cascading levels of funds into the competing parties. In 2024, election spending was two-to-three times what it was two decades ago in real terms.
To see historic parallels, you have to go back to the Gilded Age in the late 19th century, where great money men and monopolists lorded over the political class, particularly in the Republican Party. This golden age of oligarchy was eventually dimmed by progressive reform and, later, by the New Deal. Today, according to Jacobin, some 40 per cent of all political contributions once again come from the top one per cent of the top one per cent.
Ever since the US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which essentially blocked any real attempt to control campaign spending, the situation has worsened. This has generally benefitted Democrats, which is perhaps surprising given the GOP’s traditional ties to the ultra-rich. Wall Street and big-spending oligarchs like Bill and Melinda Gates, Reid Hoffman and Marc Benioff helped Kamala Harris raise well over $1.5 billion, the highest figure in history, for her losing campaign.
Politics
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The LA Fires Are the Horrifying Consequence of Democratic Misrule
Blue states’ embrace of progressive fads over good governance was bound to end in disaster.
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Can Tulsi Gabbard Lead a Broken Intelligence Community?
Members of Congress have doubts about Gabbard's ability to lead America’s faltering intelligence community in the battle against a rising ISIS, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Every State Needs a DOGE
If business leaders really want to supercharge U.S. productivity, they should ask themselves what they can do to shake their home states from bureaucratic sclerosis and reinvigorate broad-based economic growth.
