The Plutocrats' Lust for Power

The Plutocrats’ Lust for Power

The Money Aristocracy – A History of Wealth in the US

By Marcus Schwarzbach

[This book review of Kevin Phillips’ “The American Money Aristocracy”, 2003, originally published in: Neues Deutschland, February 27, 2004 is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, http://www.nd-online.de/artprint.asp?AID=49413&IDC=4%D8=.]

The millionaire son from Texas George Bush is a classic example for the direct access of “big money” on political institutions. The acting president of the US came to power through the influence of his family and a political decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. Bush junior was not taken seriously for a long time on account of his political and rhetorical amateurism or dilettantism. Now he is president of the only super-power. The power of oil and the power structures in the big concerns, the US army and the CIA have made a powerhouse out of the Bush family.

Kevin Phillips describes the ascent and influence of America’s richest family on American politics from the end of the 18th century up to today. The connections between the owners of great assets and the powerhouse of power are obvious in the US today. The family of president Bush also has many connections to the richest families of the US. With his book, Phillips has triggered a passionate controversy in the US and provoked furious attacks. “Publishers’ Weekly” summarized his work as “an astute analysis on the dubious effects of wealth and capital on democracy”.

The Rockefellers, Astors and Carnegies and also the families of Jefferson and Roosevelt determined and determine the politics of the US. Phillips describes how the great assets arose. He uncovers a subtle form of corruption that rests on briberies and the ideology of the powerful. Supported by TV stations and publications of mammoth media companies, large parts of the middle class and the poor sectors cling mentally on the “American dream” of financial power and wealth. Despite increasing wealth, this “dream” policy has resulted in falling real wages, increasing work stress, longer working hours, declining benefits and a bankrupt public health system.

The political-economic system resulting from this ideology raises claims to worldwide leadership in the name of free enterprise and national security as illustrated in the war against terrorism and the battle for oil fields in the Middle East. As a current example, Bush’s popularity hardly results from his political themes and his convincing appearance in public. Five months after his re-election for a second term as governor, an opinion research institute declared that half of the interviewed Texans couldn’t answer questions about Bush’s most important achievements in office and couldn’t name three government projects during his first term in office.

As everybody knows, the ex-governor of Texas, George W. Bush, son of the former US president and brother of the governor of Florida, could only gain the office of president because millions were spent for the election campaign. Nevertheless Phillips’ descriptions show that Bush was the “legitimate heir” for many voters as a member of a political aristocracy. In his first election campaign for the governor’s office in Texas, enthusiasm against the incumbent was generated with populist television spots. His own ideas were presented rather vaguely. For many observers, Bush surprisingly gained an election victory against the past governor, the democrat Ann Richards, who initially had incredibly good ratings in opinion polls and whose re-election seemed certain.

That he was a partner in the Major League Texas Rangers baseball team – with the money of political friends – was helpful for Bush. A well-known name, the network of political relations of the Bush family and a war chest of election campaign contributions guaranteed Bush’s election success and may also assure this year’s election contest.

Supporting the Bush clan is rewarding for financiers. The direct influence of Texan oil billionaires on the Bush family explains why the US rejects the Kyoto-protocol for controlling CO2-emissions and the prohibition on the production of anti-personnel landmines. The American capital oligarchy urges the complete liberalization of the capital-, commodity- and service trade, the privatization of public areas and the deregulation of social relations and working conditions. This “Washington consensus” is the guideline for the Bush administration.

The further technical development according to Phillips is also used to accumulate assets with state support. The examples of the railroad, automobile, aircraft and the Internet show how “true technology mania and destabilizing speculation bubbles” led to an enthusiasm of broad parts of the population. However this ultimately only served the rich who “over several generations” shifted the costs on the vast multitudes and thus intensified rather than diminished the economic inequality.

For Phillips, the political system of the US is a “plutocracy” in which the government protects the interests of the rich. A distinction between the democratic and republican parties is hardly possible. Nevertheless the question how this government pursues a policy of impoverishment against the majority of employees, unemployed and pensioners is becoming increasingly urgent.