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Not, an Oligarchy [1]

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

Date: 2025-04-08

Words matter and the terminology surrounding Governance is especially important now when we find ourselves in the midst of a concerted attempt to change our Governance structure.

Many people have been characterizing the Trump administration as a form of Oligarchy, given the participation of many billionaires (both in his election and in the cabinet). The thing is though, Trump 2.0 is not an Oligarchy; Trump 1.0 was (and perhaps a number of other administrations were as well) — but this time it is different. If it’s not an Oligarchy, then what is it and what’s the difference? (and why is it important to make the distinction?) let’s look at the pertinent definitions:

Oligarchy (from the Oxford Dictionary)

A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. a country governed by an oligarchy. "the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century"

government by an oligarchy.

Here is the definition from Merriam-Webster...

1: government by the few The corporation is ruled by oligarchy. 2: a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes a military oligarchy was established in the country : a group exercising such control An oligarchy ruled the nation. also : an organization under an organization under oligarchic control That country is an oligarchy.

Now, let’s look at the definitions for Tyranny (from Merriam-Webster)...

: oppressive power every form of tyranny over the mind of man—Thomas Jefferson especially : oppressive power oppressive power every form of tyranny over the mind of man—Thomas Jefferson especiallyoppressive power exerted by government the tyranny of a police state a: a government in which absolute power is : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state one characteristic of an ancient Greek a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler — especially b : the office, authority, and administration of a the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant

The key portion of this definition is 2a — absolute power vested in a single ruler.

Let’s step back to the core question then — what is Trump 2.0 ? Answer — it is a Tyranny, not an Oligarchy (or at the very least an attempt to create one).

Here are 5 reasons why the current Regime should not be characterized as an Oligarchy (not in any particular order):

Trump is not sharing power with any of the supposed Oligarchs who support him and has zero intention of doing so. (the one exception to this might be Elon Musk, but this is perhaps more smoke and mirrors than reality. Musk seems to be playing the role of ultimate useful idiot, taking a huge share of the negative press for an agenda he did not craft [e.g. Project 2020], and it is pretty clear that he will be discarded when his usefulness ends).

The US has had Oligarchic governments in the past, and in fact likely started more as an Oligarchy than a Republic — the two aren’t always mutually exclusive.

Tyranny and Republic though (especially a Democratic Republic), are mutually exclusive.

Oligarchs are not known for deliberately destroying their own wealth. There is every reason to believe that most if not all of the so called Oligarchs (including Musk) thought that Trump was bluffing about driving the Global economy into a ditch with Tariffs.

The alleged Oligarchs themselves are now coming out against key Trump 2.0 economic policies. Their primary agenda objectives, starting with Tax Cuts, (along with their wealth), are now being placed at risk because of these policies which they had believed to be bluffs.

Why is this distinction important?

If we recognize that we are in fact Opposing Tyranny and not an Oligarchy (not Resisting, but Opposing — again words matter), we can tailor our strategy for defending Democracy appropriately. It is critical to understand where the chaos is coming from if we have any hope of stopping it — and it is not coming from the big money supporters who are finding out now that they were suckered into supporting Trump much in the same way his deluded rallygoers were. And it is also a mistake to think that the deliberate self-destruction we’re now witnessing is delusional or some form incompetence — the Trump 2.0 Regime is following the exact plan they laid out in their campaign — almost word for word.

We’ll explore the Trump 2.0 plan in more depth later...

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