Are we living in a plutocracy ??

While on my research on 9/11 (on a belgian site) i came across a term i never heard before and that's plutocracy ... so being a person that wants to know everything i looked it up on wikipedia and found this :

Plutocracy refers to the rule or power through wealth or by the wealthy. In a plutocracy, the degree of economic inequality is high while the level of social mobility is low. This can apply to a multitude of government systems, as the key elements of plutocracy transcend and often occur concurrently with the features of those systems. The word plutocracy (Modern Greek: πλουτοκρατία - ploutokratia) itself is derived from the ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratein, meaning to rule or to govern.

en.wikipedia.org...

Also this quote from Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General on wikiquotes is interesting :

We’re not a democracy. It’s a terrible misunderstanding and a slander to the idea of democracy to call us that. In reality, we’re a plutocracy: a government by the wealthy.

en.wikiquote.org...

One reference to plutocracy i found on ATS is this one : www.abovetopsecret.com...

Seems to me that's exactly the system we are living in today (on a global scale) !

Comments and thoughts please

[edit on 1-3-2008 by Alundra]

You mean all the problems in the world today can be summed up in one single word?!

Thank you for expanding my vocabulary. Flag and star for you!

Pretty much. I think the nicest thing Ive heard about the politics in America is "special form of democracy"...

Still, its quite a lot better than anarchy and genocide...



[edit on 1-3-2008 by Copernicus]

"Better than..." is not good enough. Personally, I'll take anarchy. At least I'd be free to live and die according to my own choices.

Originally posted by jackinthebox
"Better than..." is not good enough. Personally, I'll take anarchy. At least I'd be free to live and die according to my own choices.

Plenty of that in Africa. Good weather too...

No, I know what you mean.


[edit on 1-3-2008 by Copernicus]

reply to post by Copernicus


You do raise a good point about Africa, but their "anarchy" is based on conditions set forth by the global PLUTOCRACY. (First time I got to use the word in a sentence. )

[edit on 3/1/0808 by jackinthebox]

No one can become U.S. President without raising the hundreds of millions of dollars needed run a presidential campaign in America. Seems hard to believe that Obama raised all that money, ten bucks at a time from Joe-the-plumber, so I would have to agree that America resembles a plutocracy much more than a democracy or republic.

Look at the example of that Blagojevich guy offering Obama's seat for money. I'm sure that kind of thing is common place, that's why he was adamant that he had done nothing wrong, the only reason why it received any attention was because it involved Obama.