Is there an American oligarchy?

Summary

Consider This from NPR: Is There an American Oligarchy?

Release Date: January 22, 2025

In this compelling episode of NPR's "Consider This," host Ailsa Chang delves into the burgeoning discussion surrounding the concept of an American oligarchy. Through insightful conversations with political experts and analysis of current events, the episode examines whether the concentration of wealth and power among a select few is undermining American democracy.

Defining Oligarchy in the Modern Context

The episode opens with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s assertion that prominent figures like Elon Musk represent the emergence of oligarchs in the United States. Bannon describes these individuals as having "concentration of wealth and power" (00:17) and introduces the term "techno feudalism" to characterize their influence over governance (00:28).

To provide a foundational understanding, Ailsa Chang speaks with Jeffrey Winters, a professor of political science at Northwestern University. Winters elucidates the term "oligarchy," tracing its origins back to ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle. He emphasizes that an oligarchy is characterized by "persons who are super powerful because they are super wealthy," and highlights that the key aspect is the use of wealth for political influence (04:45).

Comparing Modern Oligarchs to Historical Figures

The discussion draws parallels between today’s tech billionaires and the 19th and early 20th-century "robber barons" like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan. Jeffrey Winters acknowledges the similarity, noting that the visibility and public awareness of oligarchic power today mirror the historical context. He points out that while oligarchs have always existed, their influence has become "incredibly visible" in recent times, partly due to pivotal legal decisions such as the 2010 Citizens United ruling (06:58).

Influence of Billionaires on Politics and Governance

Steve Bannon provides concrete examples of Elon Musk's dominance in critical sectors, stating that "60% of the country's electric vehicle chargers are controlled by Tesla" and that "SpaceX operates the only US-made rockets that can send astronauts to the International Space Station" (01:21). Bannon argues that Musk's companies have secured "hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts," making it challenging for the federal government to "disentangle itself from the Musk empire" (01:21).

Jeffrey Winters expands on the implications of such concentrated power, explaining that the United States has become "a vastly more unequal society today than it was 50 years ago," with oligarchs contributing significantly to this disparity by shifting immense wealth upward without benefiting the broader population (09:12).

The Impact of the Citizens United Decision

A significant portion of the conversation centers around the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Jeffrey Winters notes that this ruling effectively legitimized the use of wealth as a form of free speech, removing limitations on political spending by corporations and the wealthy. This legal shift has "opened the floodgate" for oligarchs to wield their financial power in unprecedented ways, amplifying their political influence (07:59).

Visibility and Potential Backlash

The episode highlights the high visibility of modern oligarchs, exemplified by their prominent presence at President Trump's inauguration. Jeffrey Winters warns that such visibility can lead to public backlash, drawing parallels to the "Gilded Age" when visible oligarchs eventually faced significant opposition. He suggests that the strategies of historical oligarchs to maintain low profiles may eventually be challenged by growing public sentiment against concentrated wealth and power (10:49).

Risks of Close Alignment Between the Presidency and Billionaires

Jeffrey Winters discusses the inherent risks when a president is closely aligned with the billionaire class. He stresses that while leveraging the expertise of successful individuals is beneficial, it becomes problematic when these individuals maintain their business interests while influencing public policy. This dual role can lead to policies that prioritize wealth defense and the preservation of oligarchic power over the broader public good (09:27).

Conclusion: Is This a Historical Recurrence or a New Phenomenon?

The episode concludes with Jeffrey Winters asserting that the current situation is not entirely unprecedented but is unique in its visibility and the extent of public concern. He emphasizes that while oligarchic power has historical roots, the contemporary American oligarchy's overt influence and the resultant societal inequality present new challenges that resonate deeply with today's populace (10:31).

Notable Quotes:

• Steve Bannon (00:17): "They're clearly oligarchs."
• Jeffrey Winters (04:45): "Persons who are super powerful because they are super wealthy."
• Jeffrey Winters (07:59): "The floodgate was open for the use of this very unequal power."
• Jeffrey Winters (09:27): "One of the ways that's been done... you had to sort of leave that position and come and serve and not still maintain your businesses."

Key Takeaways:

1. Oligarchy Defined: The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals who wield significant political influence.
2. Historical Parallels: Modern billionaires resemble historical oligarchs or robber barons in their impact on society and governance.
3. Legal Frameworks: Decisions like Citizens United have facilitated the rise of oligarchic power by legitimizing vast political spending.
4. Visibility and Backlash: The increased public visibility of oligarchs may lead to societal pushback similar to past eras.
5. Democratic Threats: The alignment of the presidency with billionaire interests poses risks to democratic principles and equitable governance.

This episode of "Consider This" offers a thorough examination of the concept of an American oligarchy, providing listeners with a nuanced understanding of its implications for democracy and societal equality.

Transcript

[Ailsa Chang]

Tech giant Elon Musk has been compared to an alien, has called himself a 3,000-year-old vampire, and was once the inspiration for the screen depiction of Marvel superhero Tony Stark. But there is another descriptor following Musk around lately.

[Steve Bannon]

They're clearly oligarchs.

[Jeffrey Winters]

They have concentration of wealth and power.

[Ailsa Chang]

That was former Trump advisor Steve Bannon on his podcast War Room. He later spoke to my colleague Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition.

[Steve Bannon]

These oligarchs in the Silicon Valley, they have a very different view of how people should govern themselves. I call it techno feudalism.

[Ailsa Chang]

Bannon has been feuding with Musk over immigrant access to work visas in the U.S. but you know, he's not the only one to warn about the influence of billionaires like Musk. This whole idea may be the only point of agreement between Bannon and former President Joe Biden. 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. Even before Musk was chosen to run Trump's newly created Department of Government Efficiency, he had deep investments in the federal government.

[Steve Bannon]

Where both the federal government and the rest of the private sector have underinvested, Elon Musk has stepped in and really dominated.

[Ailsa Chang]

That is NPR's tech correspondent, Bobby Allen.

[Steve Bannon]

60% of the country's electric vehicle chargers are controlled by Tesla. Another Musk company, SpaceX, operates the only US made rockets that can send astronauts to the International Space Station. So through Tesla and SpaceX, Musk's companies have been awarded, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts. With the work Musk is doing, sometimes there's no other alternative. So the federal government just can't disentangle itself from the Musk empire.

[Ailsa Chang]

But Musk is not the only billionaire looking to work with the new administration. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others have signaled their eagerness to cooperate with the new president. Consider this oligarchy, a word that once more commonly referred to the super wealthy of Eastern Europe, has reached the shores of the U.S. what could an American oligarchy mean for the U.S. government and its citizens? From NPR. Hi, I'm Ailsa Chang.

[Ron Rudson]

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[Jeffrey Winters]

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[Ron Rudson]

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[Ailsa Chang]

Donald Trump is starting his second term as president. What will his administration do and what policies will it promote? On the NPR Politics podcast, we'll break down what the new administration does and explain why it matters. Listen to the NPR Politics podcast every day. It's Consider this from npr. When Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday, he was flanked by billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. Also on the dais were Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH, which owns luxury brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton. An American government closely aligned with money and power is something that outgoing President Joe Biden warned about in his farewell address, referring to an oligarchy taking shape in America. Now, oligarchy is a word more commonly associated with rich businessmen in Eastern Europe, but it is being used increasingly here in the US we wanted to understand why, so we called someone who's written a lot about this. Jeffrey Winters is a professor of political science at Northwestern University and joins us now. Welcome.

[Jeffrey Winters]

Nice to be here. Thank you.

[Ailsa Chang]

Nice to have you. So I suppose we should just first define what an oligarchy is exactly. What is your understanding of the term? And where does this term come from?

[Jeffrey Winters]

Yeah, you know, it's current interpretation in the United States is quite negative. I teach a course at Northwestern, and on the very first day of this oligarchs and elites course some years ago, one of the students said Russia has oligarchs and the United States has rich people. And there was this sort of interpretation, right? But it turns out the word has a lineage that goes back more than 2,500 years. And it goes back to Plato and Aristotle. And the meaning is simply persons who are super powerful because they are super wealthy. And it is the use of wealth power as political influence that has always defined oligarchs throughout history.

[Ailsa Chang]

In other words, an oligarch is a extremely wealthy person. And there is the suggestion that that person uses their wealth for personal gain.

[Jeffrey Winters]

Well, okay, it might be personal, but it is the deploying of it in politics. So let me give you an example. There might be an oligarch who feels very strongly about abortion policy, but they're using that money power in the political system to sway the political outcome. That's one. But overwhelmingly what you refer to is correct. Which is the number one political objective of oligarchs throughout history has been wealth defense, defending their fortunes from redistribution.

[Ailsa Chang]

Well, I want to get back to Biden's farewell address in which he talked about this rising oligarchy in America. And he likened today's super wealthy to the robber barons of the 19th and early 20th centuries. You know, to people like John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. morgan. Is that fair comparison? Would you say that today's mega wealthy hold the same kind of influence that those men did way back then?

[Jeffrey Winters]

Yeah, and the thing that really stands out is that there was a visibility, an awareness of this kind of power being exerted politically at that time. And it kind of parallels the consciousness or awareness that people have now. And so, yes, in between that long period, there have been oligarchs and there's been oligarchic power, but it hasn't been as visible and as agitating to people as it is now. And partly that has to do with the fact that the Supreme Court had a decision in 2010, Citizens United, that said using your wealth as voice, as first Amendment expression is completely legitimate and for all intents and purposes unlimited. And so the floodgate was open for the use of this very unequal power.

[Ailsa Chang]

But let me ask you this. I mean, these so called modern day oligarchs, they are for the most part quite successful people. You know, they're leaders in business. Their companies are a huge part of the American economy. Are there benefits, legitimate benefits, to have them sharing their expertise and insights with government leaders or future leaders?

[Jeffrey Winters]

Sure, absolutely. I mean, we're talking about people who are very, very talented. There's no doubt about it. They wouldn't be where they were unless they inherited their money. They wouldn't be where they were. But I don't, you know, I don't think the United States should avoid drawing on very talented people. Of course it should draw on talented people. But one of the ways that's been done, Elsa, is that in the past, if you were brough in, for example, from industry or from the finance sector, you had to sort of leave that position and come and serve and not still maintain your businesses. You had to be sort of shielded from doing things that were beneficial to your business. So those kinds of protections in the Past have been very important.

[Ailsa Chang]

Well, you've kind of been nipping at the edges of the answer to the next question. But let me just ask you straight out. What do you see as the biggest risk of a president being closely aligned with the billionaire class?

[Jeffrey Winters]

Well, I would just simply say it's not the first time. I mean, one of my messages is this is not new. It's only its visibility is new. Really, that is the fundamental message. The United States is a vastly more unequal society today than it was 50 years ago. And that's partly because. Because the power of oligarchs has been so great for the last half century that the Rand Corporation, for example, estimates that over those 50 years, $50 trillion in wealth has been shifted upward to a very small number of people, while people at the average level of society have not benefited.

[Ailsa Chang]

But would you say that there is something unprecedented about this current administration in the sense of the kind of political influence you see from the mega, mega rich, or is this just history replaying itself?

[Jeffrey Winters]

I think it is history replaying itself. I wouldn't go so far as to say absolutely unprecedented, but I would say definitely one of the reasons we in the country are talking about it is it is incredibly visible and people are concerned about the impact.

[Ailsa Chang]

I mean, we saw the seating chart at inauguration. It is very visible. The billionaires were right there.

[Jeffrey Winters]

Yeah, literally. Literally right there. There is a risk to having that much visibility, which is we saw in the Gilded Age and the robber baron era that there was a backlash. So one of the strategies of oligarchs throughout history has been not to be too visible. And that has worked well for them. And visibility has not always worked well.

[Ailsa Chang]

Well, I was just going to ask you, how do you see Trump's alliance with Musk and other powerful CEOs playing out? Do you see a backlash down the road from people who have just had enough with this?

[Jeffrey Winters]

I'm going to deflect the question by saying political scientists have a hard enough time explaining what has happened.

[Ailsa Chang]

Really? You trying to stick your crystal ball out?

[Jeffrey Winters]

No, I'm, you know, we're.

[Ailsa Chang]

Fair enough.

[Jeffrey Winters]

We're challenged just explaining what has happened.

[Ailsa Chang]

Fair enough.

[Jeffrey Winters]

Yeah.

[Ailsa Chang]

Jeffrey Winters is a professor of political science at Northwestern University, author of the upcoming book called Domination Through Democracy why Oligarchs Win. Thank you so much for joining us today.

[Jeffrey Winters]

Thank you. It's a pleasure.

[Ailsa Chang]

This episode was produced by Mark Rivers with audio engineering by Hannah Glovna. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sammy Yeniken. It's Consider this. This from npr. I'm Ailsa Chang.

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[Ailsa Chang]

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