The Great American Oligarchy

Rightfully, there is a great deal of hand-wringing about the American oligarchy, that our country is controlled a narrow set of billionaires, and that the common American has no voice in politics.  Somehow, Michael Bloomberg’s entrance onto the seen has made people aware of this, as if for the first time.

Let’s be real.  If you can’t live with the corruptive effect of big money in politics, you’re residing in the wrong country.  Buying elections is a ship that had been revving its engines since the inception of the republic, and it left port never to return in January of 2010 with the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision, granting corporations unlimited power to control our elections.

Those concerned about oligarchy at this particular moment are missing the point that Michael Bloomberg is doing this with his own money, and that’s actually a long step in the right direction, as he won’t spend his entire presidency returning favors to rich donors, lining up donors for his re-election campaign, creating welfare programs to corporations and billionaires, destroying the environment for profit, starting wars, getting impeached, and systematically removing everything in the federal government that actually benefits the people of this country.