this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
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Oligarchs are products of the systems we have which govern our society. Without those systems, oligarchs cannot exist nor relegate power for themselves to facilitate their continued existence through manipulation of said system's structure.
Russian influence is a small part of a much larger problem with America's individualist, hyper-capitalist, racist and xenophobic culture. Russia didn't need to do much at all but stoke the flames of cultural issues that have already been a part of the American social fabric for centuries which have only been emboldened and institutionalized by our political and economic systems.
Trump is a personification of the rotten underbelly of America that has always existed behind the thin veil of propaganda. He is representative of everything the left-wing political authors over the last century have been warning about coming to fruition.
We could keep the economic system in place that allowed the oligarchs to get so powerful if we simply figured out better ways to tax them to limit their wealth to a stupid but not globally-stupid level. Universal healrth care and other social nets, ending the insane wealth inequality and restoring it to merely unhealthy levels. Put laws in place to break up media and political influence (i.e. money into politics, e.g. Citizens United).
They could keep a decent portion of their wealth and we could make things more fair and better for everyone.
But at this point, I think it's going to take radical change to break their hold.
I wouldn't downplay external influences, but I certainly say this is primarily an internal event and nothing new, but a combination of how the country was founded plus evolution over the decades to make it worse and worse.
My main objection to the submission is the idea that foreign influences played no role at all. And the submitted idea is ridiculous on its face.
No. There is no way to keep capitalism in place and fix what ails society. That is just incredibly naive and ignorant of leftist political theory.
:rolls eyes:
:vaguely points at all the countries that have kept capitalism in place and while aren't perfect by any means, generally doing fine:
:walks away from useless conversation with a naive and ignorant twit:
How do you stop the oligarchs from changing the laws over time so that they don't have to pay those taxes anymore if they are the primary source of funding for every political campaign, lobbying group, and news media? How do you do it when many of our politicians are effectively oligarchs or share the interests of oligarchs? How do you even get that sort of taxation law passed under these conditions? The nordic countries accomplished this to a degree but those social safety nets they built are being eroded away as we speak. How do you put limits on capitalism when the capitalists are the only ones with state power?
That is the ultimate question of democracy in a nutshell: How do you give power to the people and prevent certain bad people from corrupting it?
I don't think anyone's come up with a complete solution.
You mentioned nordic countries, and if you hadn't, I was about to. I think they're a great example of showing how it can be done.
And the other part of the answer is: Education. You educate each generation so that they can stand up against the oligarchs and stand strong to vote against the laws that weaken democracy.
Various countries have done this to varying degrees. The US is somewhat of an outlier in the OECD ("Developed" countries) list in that we are pretty corrupt and undemocractic.
You have to constantly fight to keep a democracy strong. You can't just sit back and think it'll take care of itself. The attacks are constant.
So I don't have answers for you; rather, I share some of the same questions. But I do have opinions on some things the US can do to make things better. They're uncomfortable and I don't think we [as a country] are ready yet - not enough of us ready yet.
But I'm doing the part I can: arguing on the internet about where we are and what we should be working toward. It's about all I can do. The more of us that agree, the more likely it is that enough of us will be able to enact changes.