By Douglas V. Gibbs
Bernie Sanders during one of his rallies with AOC recently explained that Donald Trump and Elon Musk and all of their billionaire friends have brought an oligarchy to the United States. He then attempted to define the word “oligarchy.” He said: “An oligarchy is when you have a handful of billionaires running the government.”
According to the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary (be aware that it spells the word slightly differently):
OL’IGRACHY, noun [Gr. few, and rule.]
A form of government in which the supreme power is placed in a few hands; a species of aristocracy.
The 1785 Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language provides:
OLIGA’RCHY. N.
A form of government which places the supreme power in a small number; aristocracy.
The worst kind of oligarchy is, when men are governed indeed by a few, and yet are not taught to know what those few be, whom they should obey. Sidney.
Dictionary dot com visited online on March 29, 2025 states:
oligarchy, noun
plural oligarchies
- A form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.
- A state or organization so ruled.
- The persons or class so ruling.
While the term has been used in more modern times to describe and criticize the influence of the wealthy and powerful in politics and government – an influence that’s typically used to benefit themselves – in the strictest sense an oligarchy is not a system simply ruled by billionaires as suggested by Bernie Sanders, and his fellow leftwing Marxists.
The term in modern politics is being used in a manner similar to “fascist,” “NAZI,” “rightwing extremist,” and “white supremacist” – incorrectly and for the purpose of trying to soil political opponents by using one of the oldest tactics in the political playbook: Mud Slinging.
What is even more curious and deceptive about the use of the term “oligarchy” when referring to President Donald Trump and the people he has around him is that the Democratic Party’s anti-oligarchy stance using the “billionaires are oligarchs” definition makes no sense. If one takes a magnifying glass to the Democratic Party and truly examine who they are, you will find that the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy class. They are the billionaires’ club and they are, at the moment, screaming “oligarchy” at billionaires who have simply said goodbye to the Democratic Party. As Victor Davis Hanson said recently, “Democrats don’t hate billionaires, they just hate the ones they no longer control and who are no longer on their side.”
“They don’t tolerate apostates”
“They use this term to castigate the relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
“The ten wealthiest people in the US until recently were all lavish donors for the Democrats….So why are they so angry at the “oligarchs” when they were synonymous with Democrats?”
“They don’t tolerate apostates, so they are angry. They are angry they don’t have a lock on the oligarchs.”
“They demand absolute loyalty…any defections or apostates causes them to go ballistic…that anyone would doubt their ability to control big money in the United States.”
So much for the party of tolerance, and the party of the working class and downtrodden.
To get back to the original discussion, an oligarchy is “rule over the many by the few.” A dictatorship. Authoritarian rule, of which Trump has also been accused of being by the Democrats and their leftwing allies.
The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines a political dictator as “one invested with absolute authority” and “invested with unlimited power.”
The 1785 Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary defines a dictator as being “invested in absolute authority” and “one whose credit or authority enables him to direct the conduct or opinion of others.”
Dictionary dot com defines a dictator as “a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.”
So, according to the Democrats and their allies Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of the current gang in Washington are a part of an oligarchy, and President Trump is an authoritarian dictator.
Let’s examine his actions that might apply (or not apply) to the definitions of these accusations:
- Donald Trump is working to shut down the Department of Education and other federal departments he deems excessive, wasteful and unconstitutional – essentially relinquishing the power related to those departments back to the States.
- Donald Trump is working to shut down wasteful federal spending.
- Donald Trump is relaxing federal regulations across the board, including regarding energy production in the United States so that private entities may better be able to “drill baby drill.”
- Donald Trump is working to reduce the size of federal agencies by laying-off federal workers he believes are excessive or unneeded.
- Donald Trump is working to reduce the power and scope of federal departments.
- Donald Trump is working to reduce taxes on all Americans, and even eliminate certain taxes.
- Donald Trump is working to encourage the free market by reducing federal regulations so that the private sector may operate more independently, without government control, and so that it might be able to expand and innovate without government interference.
- Donald Trump is releasing federal control from Artificial Intelligence so that the technology may “freely develop.”
- Donald Trump is seeking to eliminate DEI and WOKE policies which suppresses the equal treatment of all Americans under the law and uses coercion to make sure progressive policies are put into place. The elimination of these federal policies will also ensure that the government is not participating in a method that aims to direct the conduct or opinion of the public square through coercive ideological policies.
- Donald Trump encourages popular participation in politics.
- Donald Trump donates his presidential salary to charity, and Elon Musk is auditing federal spending without being compensated for his activities.
- Donald Trump is eliminating the “all-electric” mandate believing that when it comes to vehicles or one’s cooking stove, Americans should have the choice on whether or not to use electric or gas.
If an authoritarian regime seeks to consolidate power so that they may have sweeping authority, and they use that power to rule over the many, and Donald Trump is an authoritarian dictator, then why would he seek to reduce the size of government and take power away from the federal government by sending many of its powers back to the States? If President Trump was an authoritarian seeking to increase his power, why would he be seeking to reduce federal spending and encourage innovation and expansion within the private sector by reducing federal control over their activities? If President Trump was seeking to be an authoritarian why would he reduce the size of the federal workforce, numbers one might argue that would be needed to maintain such an authoritarian dictatorship? If he was seeking more control over Americans, why would he seek to reduce taxes, reduce spending, reduce the size of federal departments and agencies, and call for emerging technologies to freely develop without heavy regulation by his federal bureaucrats? If Donald Trump and Elon Musk were oligarchs seeking more power and to enrich themselves then why is it that both of them are operating in the federal government without pay?
It was the Democrats mandating electric vehicles, thus taking away one’s choice on which type of product to own. It was the Democrats who outlawed incandescent light bulbs and increased regulations so that a choice in the ability to purchase certain products was taken away. It was the Democrats, going all the way back to Obama, who sought to use federal authority to control the healthcare industry. It is the Democrats who are working to make sure children’s decisions in the public schools are hidden from the parents. It has been the Democrats who have been trying to use federal power to control the means of production and business operations in the United States – you know, like communists, fascists, and other forms of oligarchy.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
