Recently I learned a new word. Allow me a correction? It’s not a new word at all. It’s hundreds of years old. I just heard the word recently so it’s new to me. I looked it up to insure I have the meaning right. It seems the word is based on the two Greek words: ploutos meaning wealthy and kratos meaning power or ruling.
When I first heard the word, I was silly enough to wonder if it was somehow tied in with the name of the Disney dog, Pluto but it would appear that I was as far as the east is from the west. All right. Some of us aren’t so bright. At 73, I still like to refer back to my boyhood days when one of my favorite TV programs was Disneyland.
The word, plutocrat might easily be confused with other words with similar meanings such as astocracy (generally associated with nobility) or oligarchy as would seem to be the case in Russia.
The important thing about the subject, it would appear that, in one way or another the rich do affect our government at every level. In the past we had those who built the big monopolies, also referred to as robber barrons.
Of course these are all poor replacements for democracy, that is government by the people. It would appear no nation can be completely dissociated from rule by gold. Even in nations that brag of their wanders of communism, also called socialism.
I’m sure there are experts in our nation who can call out those who rule other countries by and for their weath. As for me I turn my interest to the USA.
However, I would like to point out that there are 4 basic groups of the wealthy in these parts. Some simply wish to do business. Of course, they do have interest in the government but only to permit fair and proper business practice.
There are those that seek power for the sake of gaining wealth and power. The dems are well peppered with this type. If you doubt, consider Pelosi, Biden, and the like who have no wealth other than what they gained in office. I believe these are most accurately described by the new word, plutocrat.
Lest you think I’m more interested in politics than truth, let me say the Republicans also have their share of plutocrats. They are also known as RINOS, Republicans in name only. The current minority leader in the Senate and a couple of the former speakers of the house. The plutocrat can easily be found. One not need search too deep. They have great wealth and they gained almost all from their government position.
Then, there are those who had their wealth before being elected to office and, if they gain wealth in office, it is incidental. Although the Kennedys meet this criteria, i hesitate to put them in this category being as their wealth was obtained by illegal methods. Indeed, they maintained their connection with those still practicing such things. Moreover, John and Ted Kennedy continued to take advantage of their power and wealth after being elected to office. Consider the cover-ups with Marilyn Monroe and Mary Jo Kopechne. (Oh, if only they could take the witness stand.)
Some, perhaps millions would say the same about Trump. It is not the point of this post to defend the former president. However, I will quickly say this. During his presidency, his wealth decreased, the vast majority of those with the least wealth gained the most. And, last but not least, no former ladyfriends ended up dead under suspicious conditions.
Then, there are the ones such as George Soros. There are a few of them. They have billions of dollars to throw around and they seem to want to use it for destruction of our nation and our way of life. For what purpose, I simply have no idea. Perhaps it’s idealism gone astray. My guess is he has the same idea that men have throughout history; world domination. He, and those like him, want to use their fortunes to rule the world. It has been a dream of the Pharoahs, the Babylon kings, and so forth.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a power hungry plutocrat ruling the world. I don’t even want one ruling our country.
I know of no way of limiting the power of plutocrats, robber barons or whatever you want to call them. But perhaps it might start when the news media, dems and RINOS stop helping them.
As an aside, I have written a group of books I call The Floater Group. In them, the floaters are the protagonists and the controllers are the villains. The controllers bear a resemblance, of a sort, to plutocrats. It’s a shame I didn’t know the word plutocrat back when I began writing. Maybe instead of The Controllers Organization, I could have called it The Plutocrat Association.