Plutocratic power and its dangers – 04/18/2023 – Paul Krugman

The rich are different from you and me: They have a lot more power. But when they try to wield that power, they can find themselves in a trap – by supporting politicians who, if they succeed, will create a society that even the rich would not want to live in.

That, I would argue, is the common theme of four great stories that have unfolded over the last few months. They are: the relationship between judge Clarence Thomas and billionaire Harlan Crow; the rise and seeming decline of Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign; the (literally) Fox News trials; and Muskopalypse on Twitter.

First, some notes on the role of vast wealth in a democracy.

People on the right often insist that expressing any concern about massive concentrations of wealth is “un-American.” The truth, however, is that concern about the dangers that great wealth poses to democracy is part of the American tradition. And our nation basically invented progressive taxation, which was traditionally seen not only as a revenue source but also as a way to limit excessive wealth.

Indeed, if you read what prominent figures said during the progressive era, many expressed opinions that today would be hysterically denounced as class warfare. Theodore Roosevelt warned against “a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men whose main object is to maintain and increase their power”. Woodrow Wilson declared, “If there are men in this country great enough to own the government of the United States, they will own it.”

How does great wealth translate into great power? Campaign finance is dominated by a small number of extremely wealthy donors. But there are many other ways to exert influence.

Until recently I would have said that direct corruption—direct buying of favors from political decision makers—was a rare occurrence. ProPublica’s revelation that Judge Thomas enjoyed many an undisclosed luxury vacation at the expense of real estate billionaire Harlan Crow suggests that perhaps I wasn’t cynical enough.

Then there’s the revolving door: Former politicians and civil servants who supported the interests of the rich find comfortable guarantees of sinecure in lobbying firms, research organizations and media organizations. These organizations also help shape what military analysts call the “information space,” shaping public discourse in ways that favor the interests of the wealthiest.

Despite all this, there is a limit to what can be achieved in America, however imperfect and manipulated our democracy, unless it becomes possible to win large numbers of voters who do not support a pro-billionaire economic agenda.

It’s an oversimplification, but I think it’s fundamentally true, to say that the US right has won many elections, despite an inherently unpopular economic agenda, by appealing to bigotry – racism, homophobia and, nowadays, against the woke. However, there is a risk to this strategy: plutocrats who imagine that the forces of intolerance are working for them may wake up to find that the opposite is happening.

Which brings us to the other stories I mentioned.

For a while, DeSantis appeared to be rising in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Much of his apparent rise reflected support from major GOP donors, who saw him as a saner alternative to Donald Trump—someone who would serve their financial interests while attracting working-class support with its social conservatism and willingness to promote conspiracy theories.

But some of those donors are now dropping out, because it looks more and more like DeSantis’ bigotry and conspiracy theories weren’t a political show — he really believes it all. And the big money was looking for a charlatan, not a true fanatic.

Among the forces pushing the DeSantis candidacy is Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. Fox was founded essentially to carry out the right-wing strategy of promoting plutocratic politics while winning over working-class whites with bigotry and conspiracy theories. But emails and texts discovered during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit show that Fox has become a prisoner of the audience it created. Fox found itself supporting claims about a stolen election, despite its people even knowing they were false, because it feared losing market share among viewers who wanted to believe the Big Lie.

And does anyone doubt that if the Republican primaries go the way they seem to be going, Fox will soon be back in Trump’s corner?

Thus, Rupert Murdoch’s organization was effectively taken hostage by the forces he helped conjure up.

But Elon Musk’s story is, if anything, even sadder. As Kara Swisher recently noted in Time magazine, he has become “the world’s richest online troll”. The madness he helped foster didn’t take over his organization—it took over his mind.

I continue to believe that the concentration of wealth at the top undermines democracy. But it is not a simple story of plutocratic rule. It is, instead, a story in which the attempts of the richest to get what they want have unleashed forces that could destroy America as we know it. And it’s terrifying.

Translated by Paulo Migliacci

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