The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
We no longer have a democracy. Since January 20, 2025, officially the United States of America has become a proto-oligarchy, and is becoming one more completely every day. In our type of oligarchy, transactions, a form of corporate business, not the consensus of elected leaders, determine the direction of the government.
Cabinet members are not government officials per se; each of them is an oligarch. Heads of large agencies are not “directors;” they too are oligarchs. However, everyone works at the pleasure of the Oligarch-in-Chief, the President of the United States.
In effect, already we have a government such as that of China, Russian, India, North Korea, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hungary, Argentina, Cuba, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. There are other such nation-states, but you get the idea.
The head of state in oligarchies is the chief oligarch, but everyone one level below him is a lesser oligarch. Mr. Webster defined an oligarchy as “1: government by the few 2: a government in which a small group exercises control esp. for corrupt and selfish purposes.” Oligarchy, in whatever form, is the archenemy of democracy, and democracy is currently in decline around the world.
Considering how efficiently and equitably the above-named countries operate, it is probably a good thing that the USA at last has joined the ranks of the truly enlightened states. Or has it?
Only the federal courts, the election of 2026, and reason stand between us and a full-fledged oligarchy. Certainly Congress, our democratically-elected second branch of government, will not save us. April 13, 2025
John Miller is a writer and retired pastor who lives on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.