Can We Defeat The Plutocracy

I first published this on October 26, 2007. I'm republishing it, with minor changes and with the addition of a "Word History," a feature I did not always include back then. Interestingly, many things are still pertinent in 2013, although some things are also now "dated," and of course, when I refer to the next election in the article, that was for the then upcoming 2008 election.  

Plutocracy, how ‘bout that word? And here you thought I was dumm, ah I mean dumb. The word is derived from the Roman/Greek god Pluto, who was associated with wealth, seemingly arrived at because of Pluto being the god of the underworld, as coveted minerals and stones were "underground."

In order to fix a problem, we first need to recognize that there is a problem. A plutocracy is a government run by or dominated by, or very heavily influenced by the wealthy. If you think that America is not a plutocracy, you and I are looking at two different countries. The wealthy have us every which way we turn. The politicians need money to run for office, they get money from THE WEALTHY. Once elected, politicians want to remain in office and are still ever so beholden to THE WEALTHY. The country needs petroleum products to function in a modern society; who controls petroleum? THE WEALTHY. The country tries to turn to alternative energy sources, who steps in to futures markets and starts driving up the costs of products associated with alternative energy sources? THE WEALTHY. Who wanted America deeply involved in free trade, putting this country’s workers at a disadvantage, without many reforms being implemented by other countries? THE WEALTHY. Also with free trade agreements came the end run around product safety and the laws enacted in this country to protect consumers. Have you had your lead today? Who sets the terms of so called "free markets?" I'll give you one guess. 

Don’t be surprised if the wealthy threaten to pull their businesses right out of this country, if Congress or the next administration tries to rein in some of the nonsense, not that some, like Halliburton haven’t already relocated large parts of their companies overseas. We’re trapped, or at least we seem to be. The question is, what to do?

Well first, we can’t run and hide; something I think Democrats have been practicing, even if not preaching. With the election a year away, we may see Democrats finally step up to the plate and put forth ideas that score some direct hits on the plutocracy. In my opinion, they have been very timid so far. If Democrats advance plans to help the “un-rich,” if you will, I do honestly believe they will score a major victory at the polls next year. Why? Well, for one thing, the latest polls show that even people identifying themselves as Republicans are skeptical about these existing free trade policies. Further, if you’ve noticed, Democratic presidential candidates are taking in huge sums of money, compared to the Republican candidates. And, another thing I’ve noticed, in the not too distant past, many Republicans actually had something of a more “progressive” stance on issues. In more recent times, I’m sorry to say, the Republicans, or at least the Republican hierarchy has placed itself squarely on the side of the wealthiest people in the country, not the rest of us. I can’t recall a time in my life when THE WEALTHY so controlled the country, and overtly so, but some Republicans in Congress are beginning to distance themselves from all of these pro-wealth stances, and are actually joining in to promote a fairer America. While Bush's veto was recently sustained, not all Republicans were in lockstep. There is hope, folks!

So, if Democrats develop “populist” plans, I really believe the public will rally to their cause. Now, I’m not saying that the wealthy will just sit there and take a beating. They will pull out all of the stops to scare the hell out of everybody. And they have the money to do it. We’ve already heard terms like “socialist” tossed about by some of the Republican candidates, and that won’t be the end of such rhetoric, but this is more than likely just the beginning. If you’re a religious person, do you see trying to help other people as “socialist,” or the right thing to do? Do you see some type of health care for everyone as “socialist,” or the right thing to do?

It is time for Americans to practice free market capitalism; that is, self interest. Let’s give it right back to THE WEALTHY, right in their faces, the way they’ve been giving it to us for so long now. Hey, they’re the ones who talk about how great self-interest is. We should all become firm advocates of this philosophy. If we do that, there are so, so many more of us than of THE WEALTHY. If that happens, and Americans see the scare tactics put out in election ads for what they are, we can put a real dent in this plutocracy.

WORD HISTORY:
Rule-This traces back to Indo European "reg," which had the idea of "move in a straight line." This gave its Latin offspring "regere," which meant "to guide, to direct;" thus, "to rule/govern." From this was derived Latin "regula," which meant "an implement, usually a piece of wood, used to provide a pattern to make a straight line," with the additional meaning "someone of leads, guides, governs (also used for that overall process)." Old French, a Latin based language, inherited a form of the word as "riule," which was borrowed into English in the 1200s as "rule." English added "(e)r," for "ruler." The verb form was likewise borrowed by English in the 1200s from Old French as "rulen," which later dropped the "n."