But some wealthy persons have earned their wealth honestly and are benevolent. We have a different sort these days. And many Christians- Calvinists?- think wealth is a sign of God's favor upon an individual. Read Job-OT.
On Sep 27, 3:34 am, Frank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Plutocracy > Forms of government > > Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth. 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) is derived from the > ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratein, meaning to > rule or to govern. > Usage > > The term plutocracy is generally used to describe two distinct > concepts: one of a historical nature and one of a modern political > nature. The former indicates the political control of the state by an > oligarchy of the wealthy. Examples of such plutocracies include some > city-states in Ancient Greece, the civilization of Carthage, the > Italian merchant republics of Venice and Florence, and Genoa. > > Kevin Phillips, author and political strategist to U.S. President > Richard Nixon, argues that the United States is a plutocracy in which > there is a "fusion of money and government." [1]. > Modern political > > The second usage of plutocracy is a pejorative reference to a > disproportionate influence the wealthy are said to have on political > process in contemporary society. Positive influence includes campaign > contributions and bribes; negative influence includes refusing to > support the government financially by refusing to pay taxes, > threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, and so on. It can > also be exerted by the owners and ad buyers of media properties which > can shape public perception of political issues. Recent examples > include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's alleged political agendas in > Australia, the UK [2] and the United States or the oil industry > oligarchy, and billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, which may back right- > leaning political action committees (PACs), as well as billionaire > George Soros' efforts to influence US politics by backing left-leaning > PACs. > Recently, there have been numerous cases of wealthy individuals and > organizations exerting financial pressure on governments to pass > favorable legislation. (see: Lobbying) Most western democracies permit > partisan organizations to raise funds for politicians, and it is well- > known that political parties frequently accept significant donations > from various individuals (either directly or through corporate > institutions). Ostensibly this should have no effect on the > legislative decisions of elected representatives; however it would be > unlikely that no politicians are influenced by these contributions. > Some describe these donations as bribes, although legally they are > not. In the United States, campaign finance reform efforts seek to > ameliorate this situation. However, campaign finance reform must > successfully challenge officials who are beneficiaries of the system > which allows this dynamic in the first place. This has led many reform > advocates to suggest taxpayer dollars be used to replace private > campaign contributions, these reforms are often called clean money, > clean elections reform as opposed to simply campaign finance reform > which does not address the conflict of interest involved where most or > all of the campaign money is from private, often for-profit sources. > Critics of so-called clean elections point out that that having the > government decide which candidates would receive tax dollars and > therefore be allowed to run would create an effective dictatorship > where the government decides who the people can vote for. > > Forms of control > > A Plutocracy is a government controlled by a minuscule proportion of > extremely wealthy individuals found in most societies. In many forms > of government, those in power benefit financially, sometimes enough to > belong to the aforementioned wealthy class. > > Classically, a plutocracy was an oligarchy, which is to say a > government controlled by the wealthy few. Usually this meant that > these ‘plutocrats’ controlled the executive, legislative and judicial > aspects of government, the armed forces, and most of the natural > resources. To a certain degree, there are still some situations in > which private corporations and wealthy individuals may exert such > strong influence on governments, that the effect can arguably be > compared to a plutocracy. > If there are no forms of control within the society, the plutocracy > can easily collapse into a kleptocracy, "reign of thieves", where the > powerholders attempt to confiscate as much public funds as possible as > their private property. A kleptocratic state is usually thoroughly > corrupt, has very little production and its economy is unstable. Many > failed states represent kleptocracies. > > THE AMERICAN PLUTOCRACYhttp://www.progressiveliving.org/plutocracy_defined.htm > The specific American politicians who support plutocratic governance > are identified here > To e-mail this page to a friend, click here > To search the Progressive Living site for more concerning plutocracy, > click here > Read about the plutocratic agenda > Read about Progressivism, the antidote to Plutocracy Go to the > Progressive Living political Field Guide. > Go to the Progressive Living economics Field Guide > Go to the Progressive Living preamble > Go to the Progressive Living site map > Go to the Progressive Living welcome page > See the resource on the Bush cabinet, with links that illustrate its > plutocratic nature --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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