Plutocracy
Plutocracy (from Greek πλοῦτος, ploutos, meaning "wealth", and κράτος, kratos, meaning "power, dominion, rule") or plutarchy, is a form of oligarchy and defines a society ruled or controlled by the small minority of the wealthiest citizens. The first known use of the term was in 1652.[1] Unlike systems such as democracy, capitalism, socialism or anarchism, plutocracy is not rooted in an established political philosophy. The concept of plutocracy may be advocated by the wealthy classes of a society in an indirect or surreptitious fashion, though the term itself is almost always used in a pejorative sense.[2According to Noam Chomsky and Jimmy Carter, the modern day United States resembles a plutocracy, though with democratic forms.[7][8]
Historically, wealthy individuals and organizations have exerted influence over the political arena. In the modern era, many democratic republics permit fundraising for politicians who frequently rely on such income for advertising their candidacy to the voting public.
Whether through individuals, corporations or advocacy groups, such donations are often believed to engender a cronyist or patronage system by which major contributors are rewarded on a quid pro quo basis. While campaign donations need not directly affect the legislative decisions of elected representatives, the natural expectation of donors is that their needs will be served by the person to whom they donated. If not, it is in their self-interest to fund a different candidate or political organization.
While quid pro quo agreements are generally illegal in most democracies, they are difficult to prove, short of a well-documented paper trail. A core basis of democracy,[citation needed] being a politician's ability to freely advocate policies which benefit his or her constituents, also makes it difficult to prove that doing so might be a crime. Even the granting of appointed positions to a well-documented contributor may not transgress the law, particularly if the appointee appears to be suitably qualified for the post. Some systems even specifically provide for such patronage.
Oligarchy
Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos), meaning "few", and ἄρχω (arkho), meaning "to rule or to command")[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people might be distinguished by nobility, wealth, family ties, education or corporate, religious or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who typically pass their influence from one generation to the next, but inheritance is not a necessary condition for the application of this term.
Throughout history, oligarchies have often been tyrannical, relying on public obedience or oppression to exist. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich,[4] for which another term commonly used today is plutocracy.
Roman society was an Oligarchy, with a group of around 10,000 wealthy people controlled a near global population of 60 million.
Roman society was an Oligarchy, with a group of around 10,000 wealthy people controlled a near global population of 60 million.
Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Greek: κλέπτης - kleptēs, "thief"[1] and κράτος – kratos, "power, rule",[2] hence "rule by thieves") is a term applied to a government seen as having a particularly severe and systemic problem with officials or a ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) taking advantage of corruption to extend their personal wealth and political power. Typically this system involves the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service.
Kleptocracies are generally associated with dictatorships, oligarchies, military juntas, or other forms of autocratic and nepotist governments in which external oversight is impossible or does not exist. This lack of oversight can be caused or exacerbated by the ability of the kleptocratic officials to control both the supply of public funds and the means disbursal for those funds. Kleptocratic rulers often treat their country'streasury as a source of personal wealth, spending funds on luxury goods and extravagances as they see fit. Many kleptocratic rulers secretly transfer public funds into hidden personal numbered bank accounts in foreign countries to provide for themselves if removed from power.
Kleptocracy is most common in developing countries whose economies are based on the export of natural resources. Such export incomes constitute a form of economic rent and are easier to siphon off without causing the income to decrease.
Kleptocratic Capitalism
In the last three decades the USA has developed a modified form of Kleptocracy that neatly fits the label Kleptocratic Capitalism. In Kleptocratic Capitalism, rather than powerful figures in government taking systemic advantage of corruption to obtain wealth, a small group of extremely wealthy individuals corrupt the capitalist system itself.
Whearas the goal of capitalism is to generate wealth through growth, Kleptocratic Capitalism does not have the objective of creating new wealth by growing companies or investing in research, technology or employee education. Rather it's sole objective is wealth transfer of existing wealth out of public scrutiny into private ownership. Once in private ownership, it is free from public scrutiny or oversight and the ownership rights can be further consolidated into fewer and fewer ever more powerful individuals.
Some of the techniques used in Kleptocratic Capitalism are privatization of government assets, financial transactions that are so complex that regulators are not able to monitor or understand them, offshore banking and tax avoidance schemes, unregulated (dark) financial markets, complex and highly leveraged derivatives, aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) designed to transfer wealth from public company to private ownership, and leveraged buyouts of public companies by private equity investors.
Effectively Kleptocratic Capitalism canibalises existing wealth, and creates escalating wealth inequality in society.
Whearas the goal of capitalism is to generate wealth through growth, Kleptocratic Capitalism does not have the objective of creating new wealth by growing companies or investing in research, technology or employee education. Rather it's sole objective is wealth transfer of existing wealth out of public scrutiny into private ownership. Once in private ownership, it is free from public scrutiny or oversight and the ownership rights can be further consolidated into fewer and fewer ever more powerful individuals.
Some of the techniques used in Kleptocratic Capitalism are privatization of government assets, financial transactions that are so complex that regulators are not able to monitor or understand them, offshore banking and tax avoidance schemes, unregulated (dark) financial markets, complex and highly leveraged derivatives, aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) designed to transfer wealth from public company to private ownership, and leveraged buyouts of public companies by private equity investors.
Effectively Kleptocratic Capitalism canibalises existing wealth, and creates escalating wealth inequality in society.
