“De oligarchen waren altijd al aan de macht, ook in Nederland”

The oligarchs have always been in power, also in the Netherlands Democracy in the US seems to be taking a back seat now that Elon Musk is calling the shots in the federal government. But oligarchs like him have always had a lot of influence, says political philosopher Janosch Prinz. And the Netherlands also has an 'oligarchic democracy'.

The problem of oligarchy is a problem of undue influence of wealth on politics. This problem takes a specific form in liberal-democratic, capitalist regimes. The daily spectacle of the Trump-Musk billionaire duo is just a particularly stark example—as was perhaps to be expected in a country traditionally relaxed about the role of money in politics. But that hasty comparative judgment obscures the more fundamental problem: can we decouple wealth from political power at all?

Oxfam's latest annual inequality report, Takers Not Makers, released last month, is shocking reading. It explored how most billionaire wealth is taken, not earned, with 60% coming from either inheritance, cronyism or monopoly of power. Globally, the 10 richest people are all men and their wealth increased by more than $150 million a day on average. 

Last year, Australian billionaires' wealth increased by more than 8 per cent, or $28 billion.   

Nightlife is joined by the head of Oxfam in Australia, Lyn Morgain, and the head of a research team based in the Netherlands working on a project titled Contours of Non-Oligarchic Futures, Janosch Prinz, Assistant Professor in Social and Political Philosophy. Join Philip Clark as they discuss what can be done to change things, to redress the basic inequalities and lack of legality, and to ensure democracy persists.