More than 11% of the world’s more than 2,000 billionaires have run for election or become politicians, according to a study highlighting the growing power and influence of the super-wealthy.
While billionaires have had mixed success at the ballot box in the U.S., billionaires around the world have a “strong track record” of winning elections and “lean to the Right ideologically,” said the study, which is by three professors at Northwestern University.
“Billionaire politicians are a shockingly common phenomenon,” the study said. “The concentration of massive wealth in the hands of a tiny elite has understandably caused many observers to worry that the ‘super-rich have super-sized political influence.’”
They already run the world. They just don’t want to do it behind closed doors anymore.
The old capitalists were smart… they knew that hiding behind politicians camouflaged the class structure that enabled their privilege and power. But now it seems they’ve forgotten the lesson of the guillotine…
And you have forgotten the power of the bread and circus.
I think they’ve combined politics with the circus. Now even people who think they’re paying attention are really just watching a show.
Oh? And what power is that?
People don’t care what the rulers do if they’re well fed and entertained with distractions.
Yeah, the annual inflation rate reached 3500% in France before the start of the revolution. Things have to start looking pretty destitute before people are willing to put their own lives at risk. When they’re faced with potential starvation, though, eating cake starts to sound pretty good.
Yeah… I’d say that ole’ trope has been thoroughly disproven… but even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t worry about the ruling elites keeping people well-fed any time soon.
It’s a term from the Roman empire. Basically it’s saying if you keep people well-fed and entertained, they’ll let you do anything.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses
I wouldn’t put too much stock in that… the internet itself has proven that no matter the distractions, better-informed people will always have a habit of caring about stuff the elites don’t want them to care about. And that’s just a very recent example.
They didn’t forget it, they discarded it when they realised a docile middle class will vote against their own self interests almost indefinitely.
FTFY - it’s the only true “western” contribution to statecraft.