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How f*cking stupid are these people? Are government or civics classes not even taught any more? Apparently not, considering garbage "journalism" such as this nugget (paywall, no linky):
President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation Wednesday, warned that American democracy is being threatened by a burgeoning oligarchy.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.
Is he on target with that criticism, and also what is an oligarchy? Here’s what to know.
Amber Phillips
By Amber Phillips
President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation Wednesday, warned that American democracy is being threatened by a burgeoning oligarchy.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.
Is he on target with that criticism, and also what is an oligarchy? Here’s what to know.
Oligarchs are a subset of the very, very rich
Being rich doesn’t necessarily make you an oligarch. An oligarch is someone who influences politics outside the formal system, explained Brooke Harrington, who studies the issue at Dartmouth University. She spoke with The 5-Minute Fix in 2022 when U.S. sanctions were targeting Russian oligarchs at the outset of the war in Ukraine.
“It’s someone who isn’t an elected representative or Cabinet member,” she said, “but who has the ear of the president.”
She pointed to the late Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino tycoon and Republican megadonor who did work on U.S.-Israeli relations, as an example of an American oligarch.
Elon Musk almost certainly fits the definition today: The tech billionaire has taken calls with foreign leaders, stopped a government spending bill in its tracks and seemingly hasn’t left President-elect Donald Trump’s side since the end of the campaign. He’s an unofficial leader in the Republican Party; some Democrats have derisively called him “co-president.”
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The rest of the blather explains how the U.S. now, along with Russia also are perfect parallels to oligarchies.
I guess in all their book-learning about the oligarchs and the monopolies from the Gilded Age they've forgotten about such folks as John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry Ford, several others.
All of this happy horsesh*t regarding the dangers of big business is so utterly misguided. Without your Bezos, Musk, Gates, Cook, Buffett, Ellison, et al, a lot of Americans (and illegals too) wouldn't have jobs.
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