Is America an Oligarchy?
Gaslit Nation
Intro
This chapter explores the idea of the U.S. as an oligarchy amidst rising income inequality and political unrest. It examines the cultural significance of a modern-day 'Robin Hood' figure, an assassin challenging systemic greed within the health insurance sector, drawing historical parallels to folk heroes of the past.
Is America an oligarchy? This debate between Andrea and Felix Salmon, author of The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal, took place over the summer, but was delayed due to Biden dropping out of the election and Kamala Harris taking his place. We're revisiting it this week to assess how well it has aged.
America’s twelve richest men are now worth a combined $2 trillion. One of them, Jeff Bezos, reportedly interfered with the independence of the Washington Post, triggering a mass exodus after he blocked the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Another, Elon Musk, is threatening Republicans in Congress—one of the last remaining checks on our political system—warning that they must submit to Trump’s White House or face his warchest in the GOP primaries. Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars on Trump’s election and has been rewarded by being a sidekick President, meeting with world leaders, including Trump’s recent call with Zelensky.
A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office this year revealed that “the top 10% of wealthy Americans now control 60% of the nation’s wealth, while the poorer half of the country holds only 6%.” America braces for the impact of a second Trump White House, packed with billionaires and a PayPal mafia shadow presidency. Deregulation, monopolies, and tax cuts for the rich will exacerbate America’s income inequality crisis and fuel further political unrest.
Luigi Mangione, also known as the alleged Claims Adjuster assassin, sparked a national conversation this week in America. For a brief moment, Americans across the political spectrum set aside their differences and united around horror stories of insurance company greed. If we resist getting drawn into Republican-driven culture wars, we have the potential to unite with people from all sides of the political divide against a common enemy.
Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, ad-free episodes, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!
Show Notes:
The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal by Felix Salmon https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-phoenix-economy-work-life-and-money-in-the-new-not-normal-felix-salmon/19257986?ean=9780063076280
Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/business/money-report/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-paper-reports/4009739/
Trump selling deregulation https://x.com/samstein/status/1866574253534876026
Elon Musk warns Republicans against standing in Trump’s way — or his https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-politics-trump-7e26c829af224a1f9d67c27cea085e68
America's 12 Richest Men Now Worth a Combined $2 Trillion https://www.newsweek.com/americas-12-richest-men-worth-combined-2-trillion-1995950#:~:text=An%20analysis%20by%20Forbes%20showed,of%20more%20than%20%242%20trillion.
Elon Musk spends $277 million to back Trump and Republican candidates https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-277-million-trump-republican-candidates-donations/
Wall Street continues to roll higher in wake of Trump victory https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-11-11/stock-market-today-wall-street-rolls-higher-as-bitcoin-bursts-above-87-000
America's top 10% controls 60% of the wealth. The bottom half holds 6%. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/10/24/americas-richest-10-percent-controls-60-percent-of-wealth/75790850007/
Trump’s Truth Social is now a public company. Experts warn its multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic https://www.newsweek.com/americas-12-richest-men-worth-combined-2-trillion-1995950#:~:text=An%20analysis%20by%20Forbes%20showed,of%20more%20than%20%242%20trillion.
Slain UnitedHealth CEO faced ongoing court battles, threats Common complaints against insurer denials were written on bullet casings found where Brian Thompson was killed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/06/unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson-threats-court-battles/
Exclusive: Luigi's Manifesto Read the manifesto the media refused to publish https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/luigis-manifesto
The AI-powered Podcast Player
