Oligarchic Democracies

In an oligarchic democracy, one the one hand, there is the power of the people established through the democratic process; while, on the other hand, there is the power and influence of the oligarchs established through their vast accumulated wealth and their economic power to influence both elections and legislation.

When the oligarchs can freely increase their wealth and power, especially through an unfair tax system, this power shift has the opposite effect on the democratic process. It becomes weaker and weaker as the other grows stronger and stronger in its in influence and power over the democratic process.

Class Inequalities

With a great imbalance in favour of the wealthiest people in society, the social justice issues, like homelessness and poverty are not resolved, or even effectively dealt with. In most countries, there is no extensive, government plan that intends to irradicate homelessness or poverty. Instead, there are incremental changes like finding some new accommodations for the homeless or developing some new affordable housing units. In both cases, homelessness and poverty seem to be increasing each year. Incrementalism guarantees that the social justice issues remain unresolved.

The economic class structure is kept in place and continually reinforced with this imbalance of power.

The so-called free market and the corporations that govern it remain largely unchecked. What propels the market is ‘production and profits over people and the environment.’ It constantly reinforces the continuous production of environmentally hazardous materials like fossil fuels and plastics unabated. Incrementalism does not seem to slow production.

Climate Disruption

In terms of climate disruption, this shift of power has also allowed a so-called ‘free market’ to have a largely uncheck free reign with the environmental results that violently imbalances the global ecosystem. All around the globe, some form of disastrous climate interruption is taking place, be it extreme forest fires, drought and flooding. These upheaval situations seem to be happening regularly, as annual events, with each year seting new records in some part of the world.

Unequal Tax Legislation

This continuous imbalance of power becomes the new norm. The oligarchs are able to modify some of the legislation to their benefit, especially in tax legislation, as well as, convincing governments to legislate nationaltax breaks which turn out to benefit the wealthy far more than the average citizen. As usual, the prevailing hierarchical worldview continuously blurs the reality of ‘what is’ leaving a conflicted social and environmental landscape.

In a fully functioning oligarchic democracy, a delicate balance must be maintained in which the oligarchic power is restrained, so that it does not interfere with and overpower both the democratic process and the legislative process that arises from it.

Obscene wealth accumulativon is not only unethical, in that is harmful to the wellbeing of many of its citizens and to the environment; but also, more importantly, it is harmful to the democracy itself, as we are now witnessing. A fair tax system, that reduces homelessness and poverty so that they no longer exist, seems impossible. The unjust hierarchical system seems to be too intrenched.

A pure democracy tries to have a level playing field: economically, educationally, politically in terms of effective social justice practices. Such a democracy, going back to ancient Athens, does not exist and never has. There have only been oligarchic democracies, balanced in different ways, in different countries and in different times.

Are we capable of achieving the required ecological and social balance that allows for the diversity of life on the planet to continue? Is it possible to replace a hierarchical worldview with an ecological worldview which is primarily concerned with sustaining an ecological balance for all life on the planet?

*See also: Poems, The Law of Oligarchic Democracies.