In the 4th Century BCE, a young Greek student moved to Athens, to study under Plato. 

Often considered the ‘Father of Western Philosophy’, Aristotle (384–322 BCE), was one of the most influential thinkers in Western history and his text, Politics, written around 335–322 BCE, remains one of the foundational texts of political philosophy.  He examined monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and oligarchy, weighing their strengths and dangers, arguing that the true test of a constitution is whether rulers govern for the common good or for their own interests.

“The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, the few, or the many govern with a view to the common interest; but governments which rule with a view to the private interest … are perversions.” (Politics, Book III, Part VII)

We have been discussing ultra wealth in these blogs, but when that wealth also holds political sway and control, such as we are seeing in the United States of America, this creates the conditions for an oligarchic system of governance

On oligarchy, Aristotle was unapologetically clear: “Oligarchy, when the rulers act unjustly towards the people, ends in a revolution; when the rulers act unjustly towards one another, it ends in a tyranny.” (Politics, Book V, Part XII)

Historical Oligarchy

Aristotle warned against oligarchy more than two millennia ago and, yet, cyclically, humans have entered into phases of it throughout history.  Rome in its late Republic (1st century BCE) was effectively ruled by a narrow oligarchy of patricians and wealthy elites.  Corruption, wealth concentration and manipulation of the political process led to instability.  Internal strife gave rise to “strongmen” like Sulla, then Julius Caesar, who dismantled republican institutions and turned oligarchy into personal dictatorship (which was tyranny in the Aristotelian sense).

In the 1930s Weimar Germany, oligarchic elites (industrialists, aristocrats, bankers) feared socialism and popular uprisings during the Great Depression.  To protect their wealth, many threw support behind Adolf Hitler, expecting to control him.  Instead, their oligarchy helped create the conditions for a totalitarian tyranny.

Many oligarchies throughout history have collapsed in revolt.  Pre-revolutionary France was an oligarchy in practice; the nobility and clergy monopolised wealth, privilege and power, while peasants and urban workers were heavily taxed and voiceless.  Economic crisis and hunger fuelled the French Revolution (1789), which swept away the oligarchs of the old order in a violent revolt.

Although Tsarist Russia (early 20th century) was nominally an autocracy, it was also an oligarchy.  For centuries, the Tsarist system meant that a narrow aristocracy and wealthy elite controlled the land, the wealth and the state, while peasants and workers lived in poverty and were politically voiceless.  When World War I broke the economy and millions died, the façade of order shattered.  Bread riots turned into strikes, soldiers mutinied and the Tsar abdicated in February 1917.  The Provisional Government that replaced him refused to deliver peace, land or bread.  Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised to do exactly that and in the resulting October Revolution they seized power.  Lenin’s socialist state initially redistributed wealth and nationalised industry, but it also concentrated political power in the hands of a single party, showing that even revolutions against oligarchic rule can risk reproducing concentrated authority.  For true justice and broad participation, systemic structures require reform so that new domination is prevented from taking hold.

Is the United States an Oligarchy?

What is happening in the United States today carries echoes to historic oligarchic structures.  

The mechanisms that once restrained corporate greed have collapsed.  Regulations have been pared back, unions broken, and media that is owned by the same wealthy interests supports the system by supplying distraction and division.  

In 2020, the Center for Systemic Peace's Polity Project downgraded the U.S. from a "full democracy" to an "anocracy" (a hybrid regime between democracy and autocracy), citing increased political polarisation, erosion of democratic norms and challenges to institutional checks and balances.  In 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index also downgraded the US from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy”, citing declining trust in political institutions and the functioning of government. 

The 2014 academic research study by Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, concluded that “economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy,” while average citizens have little influence.  Political scientists like Jeffrey Winters also described the US as oligarchic, and public figures including President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have warned about the concentration of wealth and power threatening democracy.  In 2025, Sanders launched a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour,” and polls show that roughly 60% of voters agree the US is at least “somewhat” an oligarchy.

The concentration of wealth in the United States is unprecedented. The top 1% now command roughly 30% of US wealth, while the bottom 50% possess about 2.5%, leaving the vast majority effectively dispossessed.  Corporate money floods elections, lobbyists write legislation, and billionaires bankroll both political parties.  And the billionaire class is uniquely able to insulate themselves behind gated compounds, funnel money offshore and hedge their bets with private security and to pay lawyers, publicists, politicians, judges, academics and journalists to censure and control public debate and stifle dissent. 

US journalist, Chris Hedges, says: “We live in an oligarchic state where we’ve been rendered utterly powerless. The judiciary, the legislative, the executive branch is all subservient to an oligarchic corporate elite.”

And individuals who do speak out face consequences.  US President, Donald Trump, has aggressively targeted many different types of people who have criticised him.  Officials in public office, politicians, media and entertainment figures have all been targeted for reprimand in what some people believe are politically motivated attacks, through legal, professional and political means.  

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on charges widely seen as politically motivated, and his family faced job losses and firings.  Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent, had his lawsuit over firing for anti-Trump texts dismissed, undermining First Amendment protections.  New York Attorney General Letitia James had security clearances revoked after her vocal criticism of Trump, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton faced raids over classified documents.  Special Counsel Jack Smith came under investigation, seen by some as an attempt to intimidate investigators.  Even law firms like Perkins Coie had attorneys barred from federal buildings.  Across these cases, individuals who spoke out against Trump were penalised in ways that silenced or dismissed them, which historically is a pattern in oligarchies suppressing dissent to maintain power.

And a press that is owned by an oligarchic corporate elite, has begun clamping down on anyone who is critical of them or the elite or the government.  Late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have faced retaliation.  Kimmel’s show was suspended by ABC after he condemned Trump’s response to political violence and Colbert’s Late Show was canceled by CBS shortly after he criticised a $16 million settlement between Trump and the network.  Meyers and Fallon have faced public attacks from Trump, who called them “total losers” with “horrible” ratings, claiming that Kimmel’s suspension was “great news for America” and mocking Colbert’s firing as long overdue.  These moves signal a pattern of using power and intimidation to silence opposition, punish dissent and kill criticism.

There are other indications of the impact of an oligarchic system already in place.  There are communities widely accepted as “sacrifice zones”; towns and regions intentionally hollowed out by deindustrialisation, poisoned by pollution, stripped of jobs and left without hope, written off as collateral damage in the pursuit of profit.  In ‘Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt’, Hedges and graphic journalist Joe Sacco document these places in harrowing detail.  

Militarised police patrol city streets with equipment once reserved for war zones, a rise in surveillance technology, mass incarceration warehouses filled disproportionately with the poor and marginalised and masked immigration control enforcement officers brutally detaining and in some cases deporting legal residents, in what some have described as racist motivations, are all components of tyranny, and are already here.  

So, What’s Next?

The transition from oligarchy to tyranny is not sudden.  It is a series of measures justified as necessary for security, stability, or patriotism, until freedom exists only in name.  And there are signs we can watch for.

When state power is weaponised — the Department of Justice, FBI, or IRS turned into tools of retaliation against critics — oligarchy tightens into authoritarianism.  The suppression of independent media, from the suspension of late-night hosts under political pressure to networks pulling shows critical of power, shows how dissenting voices are being silenced.  Curtailment of voting rights through gerrymandering, purges, and intimidation further erodes democracy, while the militarisation of domestic politics — riot gear on streets, troops against protesters — normalises repression.  Add to this the erosion of checks and balances as courts are stacked with loyalists and Congress sidelined, and you have a system stripped of restraint.  Finally, the creation of a culture of fear, where whistle-blowers, journalists, and even celebrities risk their livelihoods for criticising those in power, cements the tyranny. 

As this administration continues with its agenda, the descent into tyranny is expected to continue. In the absence of a significant shift, we can expect elections that mean little, a militarised police state, and a citizenry reduced to subjects of the corporate order. 

Alternatively, the social fabric may snap, and waves of unrest could spiral into open revolt.  The question is not whether change will come, but, instead, what form it will take?

A Way Out

But there is a way out, and it begins with refusing to believe the illusions; the illusion that voting alone will change the system, that either of the two dominant parties will confront corporate power, or that consumer comforts and digital distractions equal freedom.  Resistance requires stripping these myths away and confronting the reality that oligarchy must be fought from the outside.

This means: grassroots movements that do not depend on corporate money; mutual aid networks where communities provide for each other rather than waiting for handouts from above; building independent media to counter the propaganda machine; strikes, occupations and boycotts that directly disrupt the machinery of profit.  And it means moral courage—the willingness to sacrifice comfort, reputation, even personal liberty, for the sake of justice.  As Hedges says, “The last mechanism left to resist corporate power is moral courage.”

History is full of examples where resistance brought change: the civil rights movement of the 1950s–60s; the labour struggles of the 1930s; anti-colonial revolts in the mid‑20th century.  The civil rights activists did not wait for Congress to act; they forced change through relentless pressure.  Workers in the 1930s risked their lives for the rights we take for granted.  Anti‑colonial struggles toppled empires once thought invincible.  

People united in defiance can break systems of power.  Class solidarity can be rebuilt.  Oligarchs thrive on division, between races, genders, political tribes and identities.  They fuel culture wars to keep people distracted from their shared exploitation.  The only way forward is to recognise that the real struggle is between the many and the few, between those who create wealth and those who hoard it.  Until this clarity takes hold, resistance will be fragmented and easily suppressed.

A Post‑Oligarchic America

What might a post‑oligarchic America look like?  Power would be decentralised and participatory, with communities having genuine control over resources, education, healthcare and governance.  Elections could be publicly financed (this is essential), lobbyists curtailed, and wealth redistributed to reduce obscene inequality.  Independent media could flourish, enabling citizens to access unfiltered information.  Worker cooperatives and local food systems could reduce reliance on exploitative corporations.  Government could be transparent and accountable, with checks and balances restored.  Most importantly, a culture of solidarity could replace the cult of consumption, placing collective well-being over profit.

In truth, as humanity evolves, true freedom is the inevitable, eventual outcome of populations demanding equality through grassroots movements and global protests for peace; it is not a matter of if, but when.  But the longer we delay our activism, the harder it will be to course correct out of the ever-deeper slide into tyranny. 

The system will not correct itself; power never surrenders voluntarily.  And so, the actions we take now will create the difference between tyranny and freedom for generations to come.