American Oligarchy: A legacy of betrayal

The current manifestation of government in America is not as it was intended or designed. Those entrusted to “...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution...” either by ineptitude, negligence or willful conspiracy, have despoiled the noblest system of government ever designed. The monstrosity of its present incarnation is an abomination to its founders, its selfless defenders and those who naively trust in its promise.

America’s spoilers have misled generations of her children through confusion, misdirection, disorientation and lies. A particularly subtle form of confusion has been perpetrated in the systematic distortion of the language. As meanings blur and distinctions become muddled, language – our primary form of expressing and comprehending reason – is crippled. An example of such confusion is the frequent misapplication of political labels. Such misunderstood labels are commonly tossed about with little respect for their actual meaning. To help dispel some of the confusion about political labels, consider the following.

The political spectrum is best understood as a horizontal line. On the farthest right is Anarchy. On the far left is Totalitarianism. All labels employed in political dialogue relate primarily to their position on this spectrum. When accurately used, they identify the goals, policies and agendas of those so identified with their tendency or preference regarding the degree of government control and intervention in the private sector. Each label implies specific inherent qualities and styles of governance.

A brief definition of some common labels follows:

First, let’s define the possible structures that governments take. There are several labels that relate to governmental structure. Some are indicative of the political system they employ; others are generic and so may be applied to more than one specific system. The categories are as follows:

• Anarchy: This word originated from the Greek, anarchos; meaning literally: no ruler. Anarchy is popularly equated with chaos, violence, disorder, barbarism. The reason is that without some form of coordinated security, each person is required to provide for their own protection. In such an environment, barbarism is inevitable because those willing to employ the most force usually win. Anarchy is sometimes advocated by those who mistrust any form of organized government due to its tendency to evolve into totalitarianism. But the flaw in this argument is that anarchy provides maximum advantage to those with the least moral restraint. It can be predicted with perfect certainty that a state of anarchy will always result in the rise of tyranny.

• Monarchy: Rule by one king or queen.

• Oligarchy: Rule by an elite group.

• Democracy: Rule by majority vote.

• Representative Republic: Rule by Constitution, with representatives elected by popular vote.

When we look more closely at these structures, it becomes apparent that they can be reduced to fewer categories. The reason is that some appear to be one form, when actually they are another entirely. For instance:

An oligarchy is a government structure in which an elite group of leaders collaborate to rule. They may or may not consider the will of their citizens, but whether or not they do, the final decisions regarding government policies are the sole province of the elite group. The will of the oligarchy is the highest law of the land and their power is absolute.

Monarchies are identified by the appearance of one single head of state, but every monarch relies upon the advice and cooperation of an elite group of advisors and allies to maintain power. So Monarchy can be categorized as an Oligarchy.

A Democracy is seemingly ruled by popular vote in which each member of the nation has an equal voice in decisions and policies. But upon closer scrutiny we discover that an elite group always determines which issues and which solutions to put to a vote. So even though a democracy gives each member an equal vote, the issues they vote upon and the ultimate decision as to how to act upon the voters will are left to an elite oligarchy to decide. So, democracy is ultimately an oligarchy.

In a representative republic, a constitution establishes the powers of the state, and the state must stay within those powers to maintain its moral and lawful legitimacy. Within this context, representatives are elected by popular vote. The public does not vote on every law; rather the elected representative acts as a proxy for public will, owing their power to the accuracy with which they adhere to the wishes of their constituents. In a representative republic, the constitution is the highest law of the land.

Representatives may act on the will of their constituents within the constraints of the Constitution, but may not act outside their constitutional power even if 100% of their constituents demand it. To do so, the representatives must pursue a constitutional amendment to modify the lawful powers of the government. Since unsatisfactory representatives can be voted out of office, or impeached for violating their constitutional limits or neglecting their constitutional duties, the power of the representative is checked by the constitution on one side and the public vote on the other.

To further prevent the chance of tyranny, the framers of the United States Constitution divided the government into three branches each of which must win the support of the other two branches in order to act. This system of checks and balances greatly inhibits the possibility that the government can be completely taken over by an oligarchy. Can it still happen? Yes, but the structure prevents it as much as is possible.

Based upon the previous analysis, there are essentially two possible forms of government: the representative republic and the oligarchy. In one form, the state is bound by a constitution that cannot be easily changed; in the other, the state wields unbridled power. Now, let’s examine the various labels attributed to different styles of governance.

• Collectivism: This label defines any political or economic process that relies upon unified or collective control. Since such control can be accomplished in a variety of ways, different labels have been created to differentiate the qualities of each approach. See those below:

• Communism: Under communism, the state directly owns everything; everyone works for the state and is paid by the state. The state determines what job one holds, how much one is paid and where one lives. Under such a system, politics are the dominant factor in determining one’s value to the collective (the oligarchy). The individual is wholly subservient to the political structure – a replaceable cog in the machine of state and economy. Despite its claims of egalitarianism, communism creates two distinct classes: the wealthy, powerful ruling elite and the poor, powerless masses. Communism is a totalitarian oligarchy where individual rights are bestowed or revoked by the state based purely upon the capricious motives of those in charge.

• Socialism: Socialism is essentially “communism-lite.” Some private property is allowed. But, like all forms of collectivism, the ruling elite has total power to determine the nature and quality of property rights, the range of individual liberties and the ultimate fate of every member of the society. The primary difference between communism and socialism is the manner in which “rights” are dispensed, managed and revoked. Where communism employs unrepentant brutality, socialism rationalizes it acts of brutality as being for the “good of society.” But since the ruling oligarchy defines what constitutes the “good of society,” they still exercise totalitarian control. The only real difference is in the manner in which the control is marketed.

Popular political labels that identify their advocates as collectivists are Democrats, Liberals, Populists, Progressives, and Moderate Conservatives. Each owes his or her political allegiance to collectivism, and believes to varying degrees that the individual is in fact, a commodity to be managed, used and discarded as a replaceable part of the collective; and that individuals’ usefulness is measured only in so far as it serves the interests of the collective as defined by the oligarchy.

• Fascism: Fascism is a term that is frequently misapplied. Many believe that Fascism is a “right-wing” form of totalitarianism which leads to confusion regarding the right-left relation between differing degrees of government power. Remember, on our political spectrum, the far right is Anarchy (no state control) and the far left is Totalitarianism (total state control). Based upon this model, Fascism is simply a different label for what is essentially another variety of absolute state power. Fascism can also be called Corporatism: which is similar to socialism in that some private property exists. In Corporatism, the oligarchy includes business leaders as well as politicians.

All of the prior political labels refer to a style of government that adheres to two fundamental assumptions. One being that the state is the highest authority – above the law in fact. The second assumption is that the individual has no rights except those bestowed upon them by the state. Under this set of assumptions, the relative benevolence or tyranny of a given regime is dependent not upon objective standards of morality or law, but rather upon the whim of the oligarchy. This lack of restraint leads inevitably to capricious behavior, whose consequences are consistently transferred to their citizens.

Economically, all forms of government rely upon the essential economic processes of Capitalism, but since varying degrees of state ownership or regulation exist, such a system is sometimes called a “mixed economy.” Under fascism, the ruling elite include the owners of private corporations and government policy is employed to benefit the goals of the corporate partners in the oligarchy. Based upon the current make-up of the American political and economic system, Corporatism is the most accurate label, although Fascism is equally valid.

• Constitutional Republic: In a constitutional republic, the single quality that distinguishes it from all the previous labels is the decentralization and legal limitation of government power. A pure republic is one in which central power arises out of combined will of all the independent states or provinces of the republic. In a Constitutional Republic, another layer of government limitation is added by establishing enumerated powers and limits upon the government. In our constitutional republic, the Constitution defines exactly what the powers of the federal government are; even going so far as to specify that any powers not enumerated in the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people. This means that the Constitution, not the government is the highest law in the land, and that the people have the right of “...redress of grievances...” In a Constitutional Republic such as the United States of America, the government derives “...its just powers from the consent of the governed.” So, unlike any other government form or style in existence, in our form of Constitutional Republic, the individual is both the source of the moral and lawful authority of the government. However, though the Constitution guarantees certain unalienable rights to individuals and restricts a whole range of powers from the government, such is no longer the case in fact.

The current system in America (since the early 20th century) best fits the label of Corporatism (or Fascism if you prefer a more well-known term). We have a system in which the government, the powerful financial interests, and the major corporations have formed a cabal or unacknowledged oligarchy. Rather than adhering to its constitutional limits or fulfilling its constitutional obligations, government acts instead on the will of this cabal: The government, the financiers and the corporations they own. The effects of government policies on citizens are considered only in so far as it affects their level of compliance with the state and the degree of benefit to financial and corporate interests. It is a natural result of such a system that individual liberties become little more than an afterthought; and that usually in the form of a nuisance.

Viewing the behavior of the Washington and Wall Street elite in light of these considerations is both revealing and frightening. The average observer can easily deduce that America has squandered her most precious treasure. Our government has forsaken even the pretense that it is sanctioned by the consent of the governed. Having joined the ranks of corrupt oligarchies, she is no longer the keeper of the sacred flame that once shone over the land of the free. Neither has she retained claim to her role as a beacon of liberty and equal justice to the world.

America has succumbed to the same degradation that has afflicted all great civilizations – through arrogance, neglect and the demoralization of her people; she turns now toward the path to oblivion. Yet there is still hope. We can still revive the American Ideal and return to the path once charted by the giants who first set our bearings. Our generation may be the last with any hope of igniting this revival. The consolidation the oligarchy’s power is almost complete. The time has come to awaken; to rise above our slumbering apathy and take America back — by any means necessary!