(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Israel/Palestine is a symptom, Oligarchy is the disease [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-03-16

A quick note before I get into the main point of the article. I will be using a viral disease metaphor with social concepts. But I want to be clear that the metaphor is with the mental pathology of the individuals and not the individuals themselves as humans. Just as it is possible to talk about Rabies (a physical virus which affects behavior) without dehumanizing the inflicted person, I hope to do the same here.

I’m beginning with the Israel/Palestine conflict as symptom precisely because people have such strongly held beliefs about it. At least on the left, I find almost no-one arguing that the situation isn’t a tragedy and shouldn’t be a problem, rather the arguments (again, on the left) revolve principally around the means by which to resolve it. I’m not going to go into much, if any, details regarding those arguments, because in my own assessment it’s akin to arguing over how to treat the fever of a patient with a potentially fatal viral infection. It is certainly a real argument of importance just as the treatment of the fever is. A virally infected patient may certainly die due to a fever and that the fever is brought down is of critical importance to the patient. Treating the fever successfully will save the life of the patient (for the pedantic, we’re assuming this hypothetical virus only kills due to fever). But it does nothing to stop the spread of the disease.

So today I am inviting everyone to take a step back from the Emergency Room and put on their epidemiologist hats. Both are critical, but our best hope for stopping the disease for good is understanding and applying the epidemiology. And for human conflict, the disease is oligarchy.

Not just greed; oligarchy. I’m going to borrow an anti-racism formulation of Racism as being “bias” plus “power” (both personal and systemic). In that vein, for the purposes of this article, I’m going to define oligarchy as “greed” plus “power”. In anti-oppression groups there can be the occasional argument of whether racism or greed is more “root problem” and I think these definitions help to preempt that argument. If we think of oligarchy as “greed” plus “power” we can understand that oligarchy and racism are often indistinguishable because they are both abuses of power. The origin of the problem, while still important in many cases, on occasion becomes almost semantic as oligarchy frequently uses racism as part of oligarchy’s means and racism uses oligarchy as part of racism’s means. A particular individual may be more motivated by greed, or bias, or perhaps even both equally. In the end the individual still ends up participating in a system which abuses power. I’m going to continue with oligarchy in this article, but much of the argument applies for all abuses of power.

Oligarchy as “greed” plus “power” is driving so many of today's problems. Israel has become captured by oligarchy just as the United States has become captured by it. Both function as pseudo-democracies where actual democracy can still surface on occasion, but much of the apparatus of power in both countries have been highjacked by Oligarchs. Similarly, the Gazans have been highjacked by Hamas. We can debate forever on the various levels of complicity the populations of the US, Israel, and Gaza have in their government, but the end result is still one of all three countries being ruled by Oligarchs.

Viruses work by injecting themselves into a living cell where their own DNA or RNA is exposed to the cell’s machinery. The cell unwittingly replicates and translates the viral genes because it doesn’t immediately recognize the viral genes as a pathogen. Those viral genes then highjack the cell’s entire function. Normal cellular function not needed for production of viral proteins are shut down. Cellular functions that might only be infrequently used because they are not needed all the time might be unregulated by the virus to serve its own end. The cell stops becoming a useful cell for the greater organism of which it is a part and instead becomes a factory to do nothing except create more virus. Depending upon the virus, the cell eventually splits open entirely spreading all the newly made virus to the rest of the organism.

Thankfully, a cure is known for Oligarchy, but it is difficult to apply. The cure for oligarchy is to remove the greedy from power (and let’s remove the racists and anti-LGBTQX folks while we’re there). And in a world where so many go hungry and homeless, consolidation of so much wealth in the hands of a few is a crime against humanity. I don’t know exactly where the line is between being a well-adjusted rich person is and being part of the oligarchy is, but can we agree that having a billon in net worth crosses that line?

One of the tools of oligarchy is using individuals’ concern for their own well being against their own interests. We as humans naturally look for safety and security. We strive to not only eat and shelter for a day, but to create a living where our means of surviving and thriving is reasonably guaranteed for their lifetime. As anyone who has experienced financial struggles, homelessness, or chronic hunger can attest, it’s stressful living day to day even if we do somehow carry it off (and some of us don’t). The oligarchs use this desire for security against us by framing government programs meant to alleviate poverty “for others” as a threat to our own financial security. To paraphrase, we are a nation of soon to be billionaires just temporarily down on our luck and we don’t want anything to get in our way.

In the age of Elon Musk as Chief Executive over the President of the United States I hopefully don’t need to prove how oligarchs are a problem. What I might need to prove is how Democratic leadership is in part complicit. I don’t believe most in leadership set out to help the Oligarchs take power. They’re not all Manchins and Sinemas. But for decades now many in Democratic leadership have been taking corporate and oligarch donations to their campaigns. And as much as they wish to believe they’ve still been watching out for the little guy, they have failed.

Wealth inequality has been rapidly growing in the US since the 1970s and the Democrats have done little to prevent it. I’m not measuring in terms of speeches made against wealth inequality, I’m measuring in terms of actual wealth inequality. There have been brief inroads against it. The Biden economic response to COVID is a great example of what government can do to fight wealth inequality. But such programs failed to remain in place against the onslaught of oligarchy. And the reason it has been failing in the long term is that too many Democrats have given up calling out the abuses of power for fear of alienating their corporate donors. So we get a party interested in handing out scraps to the poor instead of taking on the power of the wealthy.

Those of us fighting against Oligarchy in the United States need to come to common understanding. We are fighting viral greed. Some of us need to work as Emergency Room staff to treat symptoms and keep people alive. Some of us need to work as epidemiologists and public health officials to prevent spread of the infections. Some of us need to work as researches to find the means to fight Oligarchy. And yes, many of us need to continue on with our daily jobs to keep the nation running the best we can while supporting as best we can those doing the more direct work.

I invite everyone working towards a better world to occasionally take a step back to see how their efforts work with the greater picture of fighting oligarchy. It may mean we keep on doing what we’ve been doing, but it may also mean we need to change focus. We all need to reexamine how our work contributes to a better world. What may have been helpful 20 years ago, 1 year ago, yesterday; may have been highjacked by a virus to its own ends. Much work will go on as normal. But we also need to question if our tactics and leadership are still effective. What worked for a health body politic may be lethally turned against us when fighting the virus of oligarchy. Well meaning leaders may no longer be the correct people to lead in this time of emergency.

Questioning these leaders and tactics is not meant to be an attack on ourselves. We are all here to build a better world (except the virus infiltrators trying to create discord). Questioning and possibly replacing leaders who are no longer effective is the proper response. Those who have held power are often loath to give it up. And many are eager to take over power who are not necessarily fit. So the process of mounting a defense against the pandemic of greed will not be an easy one, nor has it ever been. But just like a body changes to defend against a virus, so must we do so against the oligarchs.

We can do this. We can remove power from the greedy. We can put in place programs to improve everyone’s lives. We can reclaim true democracy and true freedom. But we’re going to have to fight and we’re going to have to fight while still listening to each other. It just may mean a shift in focus.

Slava Democracy

Slava all people of good will fighting for a better world

For those unfamiliar, a common Ukrainian greeting is Slava Ukraini (glory to Ukraine).

Join me on Bluesky! peterolandt.bsky.social

If you want me to write more you can support me by buying me a coffee.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/16/2310546/-Israel-Palestine-is-a-symptom-Oligarchy-is-the-disease?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/