The Thinking ‘Kat: The Oligarchy of America
Recently, Insanity Bytes raised an interesting notion over on her site, and it’s provided inspiration for this post of mine. Is the USA an oligarchy? Well, before we can discuss that in earnest, we need to know what an oligarchy actually is. The dictionary defines an oligarchy as ‘a small group of people having control of a country’. It certainly feels like the USA has been steered by big business interests for a very long time, and it also seems this is due to ramp up a notch, as Donald Trump prepares for his second stint in the White House.
Now, some people may suggest ‘Trump isn’t part of the oligarchy!’ Well, he’s either a part of it, or he’s being controlled by it. Either way, he has no fundamental interest in changing the system to one that would benefit the average American. For that matter, nor would most Democrats. There’s too much money and influence to be gained from the status quo. The rich and powerful have always found a way to wield influence, and this is a truth that stretches back centuries, and crosses borders and oceans. What makes the USA something of an outlier in that respect, is just how much influence the rich wield.
Insanity Bytes’ post rallies against the self-serving interests of the wealthy. She rightly calls out the behaviours of the oligarchy, and their withholding of wealth from the average American. In truth, it is a global problem, even if it seems to be one that is brought to a greater, stark reality in the US. The USA has a decades-long history of a for-profit healthcare model (see this Quora post for details), because money is the biggest wheel-turner stateside, even in matters (or perhaps especially in matters) of life and death. People are so indoctrinated into believing that wealth = goodness, that they defend unchecked corporate greed at every corner, trained to declare that anything looking even remotely like true equity and equality is the result of evil Commie thinking.
This dogged mentality has seen the cost of healthcare spiral, and it is best displayed in the cost of life-saving insulin. In 1996, a 10ml vial of Humalog cost $21.23. In 2006, the price had more than doubled, to $70, and ten years later, it reached $274. In 2017, it peaked at $275, where the price remained the same for several years, until in 2024, it was reduced to $66. It has taken years for regulations to pull back the insane profiteering off what is an essential, life-saving drug for millions. No one – not Republicans, and not Democrats – has had a vested interest in scaling back these costs, because they are all benefiting financially from various arrangements. The love of money matters more than respect for life.
Is this attitude likely to change, any time soon? I wouldn’t bet on it. Any suggestion of moving away from unchecked corporate greed is met with some spectacular fear-mongering. It is a pity that there is no room for equality or equity, and even more of a pity that these ideals get drowned out by the drum of cold, hard cash.
Thank you for adding
You’re welcome.
Seriously, it’s a difficult conversation to have in America because everyone is so polarized and distracted by other issues.
For profit healthcare is a huge problem, too. Many people in America don’t understand it either, which makes it even harder to try to solve. If you follow the money one thing that becomes quite evident is that we already have “government run healthcare,” it is just that the waste and greed is so atrocious, people actually cry out for privatization. A lot of seniors, blessed to be healthy, haven’t been to a doctor in five years, would be shocked to realize they have actually spent 50 grand on “healthcare.” Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, part B, C, D, all a very convoluted mess.
The thing is, it’s not really a true, government service, in the way healthcare is in the UK, France, Germany, Japan etc. A true form of public-run healthcare hasn’t existed in the USA since… well, forever. Money is the driving force, and as long as money is the driving force, it will remain a mess. I have no idea why no one is stripping greedy insurance companies and big business interests from healthcare, but it is well past the time that someone did.