Op-ed: Oligarchy, not Socialism, is the danger we face

By Bill Dunkel

As the president’s approval ratings have plummeted and some progressive Democrats have won primary elections while supporting Medicare for All, a wealth tax, or other ideas to help struggling Americans, Trump and his advisors are increasingly raising the spectre of the socialist bogeyman. They are trying to scare voters into thinking that “left-wing extremists” are taking over the country.

Do not be deceived. Rapidly advancing oligarchy, and in Trump’s case kleptocracy, is the danger we face, along with the strangling of democracy that accompanies it.

According to the RAND Corporation, a highly respected non-partisan research institute, in 1975 the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans received about one third of the nation’s total annual income. The other 90 percent of the population received the other 67 percent. Today the richest 10 percent get about 55 percent of aggregate income, while the share of the remaining 90 percent has dropped to roughly 45 percent. Taking into account the growth of our economy since 1975, inflation and tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations, RAND estimates that $79 trillion in wealth has been transferred from 90 percent of the American population to the wealthiest 10 percent, with much of that going to the top 1 percent. This trend has intensified in the past five years, especially during Trump’s second term. Fifty years ago CEO salaries were 20 to 30 times more than the average worker received. Today CEOs receive about 344 times more than a typical employee.

We know what the result of this massive transfer of wealth looks like. The middle class is being hollowed out. More and more Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Many people cannot afford to buy a home or health insurance. Grocery and fuel prices are spiking. Homelessness is a huge problem in many towns and cities.

Meanwhile, Trump and his family have received $2.2 billion since 2025 from, among other things, ethically questionable cryptocurrency ventures, foreign licensing deals and the increased value of their oil and gas stocks since he began the war against Iran. The combined net worth of Eric and Donald Jr. has increased by $700 million. Venture capitalists, technology magnates, and AI and fossil fuel companies allied with Trump are riding high and cashing in. To cite just one example, in April of 2024 Trump asked his oil and gas executive dinner guests at Mar-a-Lago to contribute a billion dollars to his presidential campaign and he made it clear that they would be well-rewarded if they did so.

Ultimately, fossil fuel companies spent $445 million outright on his behalf and a great deal more in dark money contributions that could not be traced. Subsequently, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill gave those companies $18 billion in tax breaks. In addition they are being allowed to drill for oil and gas in formerly protected places such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and several national monuments in Utah. Trump also has tried to slow the development of clean energy, which threatens fossil fuel dominance, by slashing federal subsidies for electric vehicles and blocking the construction of wind turbines.

This is not free enterprise, it is corruption. This is not democracy, it is pay-to-play oligarchy. Elon Musk, who spent about $300 million on the 2024 campaign, apparently has authorized his America PAC to spend up to $120 million on the upcoming midterms. The November elections may be our last chance to repudiate Trump and his billionaire cronies who threaten our freedom, our democracy, our overall prosperity and the common good.

Bill Dunkel is a retired educator living in Windham.