What's Wrong with Oligarchs?

Just one more quickie commentary before the 2026 mid-term elections. After that we all probably need to take a break and catch our breath. Fat chance! The campaign for the 2028 presidential election has already started.

Democrats will excoriate oligarchs as the root of all our problems. What’s with Democrats and oligarchs? Everywhere you look the Democrats are holding signs that denounce oligarchs. Socialist Bernie Sanders stands out as one of the foremost opponents of oligarchs (especially since he wrote his book, Fight Oligarchy, which he published in 2025 and which will likely make him millions). Progressive Democrats all across the country promise to fight the power of the wealthy as they proudly stand in front of signs promoting Bernie’s book.

I know that being an oligarch sounds like a bad thing. And Putin’s Russia seems to have a lot of oligarchs. But what ,or more correctly, who, actually, is an oligarch? Well, an oligarchy is a government controlled by just a few people, so those few people are the oligarchs. I think that the Democrats believe that oligarchs are filthy rich, and although in history most governments that could be considered oligopolies were controlled by very rich people, oligarchs are not necessarily wealthy. A government controlled by wealthy people and run for their benefit would be a plutocracy, which is somewhat different than an oligarchy.

Most oligarchies in history, such Greece before it became a democracy, or the Roman Republic before the empire were run by powerful family groups. Like the Eupatridae or the Alcmaeonids in ancient Greece, or the Gens Cornelia (Scipio Africanus was a member) and the Gens Claudia (Appius Claudius builder of the Appian Way was a member) during the Roman Republic. The Medicis were a famous (or infamous) oligarchic family in medieval Florence. Most of these families were very wealthy but were they powerful because they were wealthy or wealthy because they were powerful?

Most large organizations are run by a relatively small group of elite leaders and America is no exception. The Founders of America were men well-educated in the classics (many spoke Greek and Latin) and they greatly admired the Roman Republic and what it had accomplished while they feared democratic Athens that was consumed by populism. They opposed monarchical and aristocratic government but they clearly wanted to create a republic led by an educated and patriotic elite. American voters quickly disabused the Founders of the notion of a nation led by well-educated statesmen who had put their personal and private interests behind them so that they could devote their lives to the nation and its people. Popular suffrage elected the likes of Andrew Jackson and Davey Crockett.

Most of the so-called oligarchs in America that the Democrats constantly rail against do not come from wealthy families. Most of them come from middle-class backgrounds, a number of them are Jewish (which may account for some of the hatred toward this group), a number of them are immigrants, and almost all of them built their wealth from scratch. No great family fortunes. No Rockefellers, no du Ponts. They have had to earn their wealth.

All I know is that the oligarchs that the progressive Democrats hate so much have done a lot more for me than any Democratic politician. I recently got a text message from my daughter on my iPhone (thanks to oligarchs Tim Cook and Steve Jobs) about the popcorn we sent to our granddaughter at college (thanks Jeff Bezos) that she confirmed she got on Facebook (thanks Mark Zuckerberg). I also have to thank the oligarch Elon Musk for supplying Starlink communication to Ukraine in their fight for freedom from Russian oppression. And while we are at it, Elon has reduced the cost of putting stuff in orbit by 90% while the Democrats in California have increased the cost of high-speed rail from LA to San Fran $33 billion to $126 billion (while ignoring the fact there is no high-speed rail anywhere in California except a 119 mile section from Madera to Bakersfield expected to be operational by 2031 (Elon’s going to be on Mars by then for less money – his own money not taxpayer money as in California).

It’s not as if the progressive Democrats don’t have their own billionaire donors, its just that they don’t call them oligarchs. And if they aren’t motivated by greed as the MAGA mega-donors supposedly are, then what motivates them? And don’t tell me it’s out of the goodness of their hearts.

I would rather live in a country where oligarchs get rich by supplying me lots of great new products rather than having to survive on the campaign promises of politicians. Oligarchs that don’t supply great products go broke. Politicians that don’t deliver on their campaign promises get reelected. Populist governments are only popular as long as they have money (either from taxpayers or lenders). When they run out of money they become unpopular – witness France. And because nobody wants to pay taxes and everybody wants free stuff populist governments inevitably run out of money. They even run out of oligarchs.