WASHINGTON – United States President Joe Biden in his farewell speech to the nation last Wednesday warned that American democracy was sliding into an “oligarchy” of tech billionaires. But what exactly is an oligarchy?

What is an oligarchy?
In short, an oligarchy is an elite few who control the government’s actions. By using the pointedly negative term “oligarchy”, Biden equated this moment – when the world’s wealthiest men are feting President-elect Donald Trump – with some of history’s more brutal regimes. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to cohost a Trump inaugural reception with wealthy Republican donors next week. Amazon Prime Video, which was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, got exclusive licensing rights to stream and theatrically release first lady Melania Trump ‘s new documentary.
Meta, Amazon and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month donated USD 1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. And billionaire Elon Musk’s super PAC spent around USD 200 million to help elect Trump.

But Biden made a complicated assertion as both Republicans and Democrats have relied on Silicon Valley fortunes to boost their political ambitions. Like many words in politics, oligarchy originates from Ancient Greek and quite literally means that few command. But unlike an aristocracy, an oligarchy is more closely tied to wealth than nobility and family lineage. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book Politics that “democracy is safer and more free from civil strife than oligarchy; for in oligarchies two kinds of strife spring up, faction between different members of the oligarchy and also faction between the oligarchs and the people”. (The Gleaner)

Photo: United States President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House while giving his farewell address in Washington. (AP)