Make no mistake, the U.S. has oligarchs too...

[Ferrets are Cool]

we just call them the 1%.

[TygrBright]

1. Actually, the .01% is more accurate.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. more like robber barons ..

[Irish_Dem]

3. Our corporate oligarchs have ruled us for a long time.

Those of us in healthcare have known that for decades.

[a kennedy]

5. and fawk them. 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬

[jaxexpat]

24. Healthcare is the US industry with the highest harvestable profit point.

In fact almost every aspect of treatment is closed to open inspection. The respect and trust US citizens have been raised to hold for the medical profession insulates practitioners and their support technology from popular support for effective regulatory legislation. The adversarial relationship between insurers and those on the frontline of patient care functions as a buffer which maintains the charade that the "other guys" are the problem. It serves the purposes of those at the top of the medical costs pyramid that streamlined communication between branches of care is not mandated by statute. The fraud that our personal privacy outranks the effectiveness of our care ties the hands of medical professionals with red tape and fear of legal repercussions. The legal profession is licensed to terrorize the system into the highest costs for professional liability in the world while not serving to police the industry effectively. It serves the profit flow of hospitals to perpetuate these games despite the fact they know that the game is really not serving their workers or their patients. I'm just a dumb old guy but I see the willful tolerance for incompetence and lack of shared professional respect for coworkers. The ass covering and unwillingness to foster a desire to improve any existing system by those who implement the system is not a good atmosphere for meaningful correction. I dread the point in time when I am consigned to caretakers for my last months on this mortal coil mostly because I know that mining the last of my funds will coincide with my death. Oh and yeah. None of those problems apply to the 0.01%. Interested to hear your take.

[Irish_Dem]

29. You are spot on.

Everything is just as you say.

Factor in the corruption of our state and federal congress who take bribes from the insurance companies and most horrendously big Pharma. This is the reason drug costs are so high in the US when other countries have regulated costs. US politicians who are corrupt.

The severe shortage of mental health professionals which exists today is directly a result of predator "managed care" companies who saw a goldmine in sucking out all the money they could from that industry.
It was a sitting duck situation as most mental health providers were PhDs, not MDs, so did not have AMA protection, or the political savvy or funds to bribe, excuse me "lobby" congressional leaders.

Thirty years ago corporate pirates formed managed care companies which essentially denied delivery of mental health services, or reduced payment to ridiculous levels. Their goal was to take all the profit generated by the mental health field. They also borrowed huge sums of money from banks, and then filed bankruptcy, becoming vastly rich in the process. And causing many mental health professionals to go bankrupt and leave the field. For a number of years, psychologists spent part of their day working with no reimbursement at all. Most mental health professionals did not go into the field to get rich. It was their passion and a desire to make a difference in people's lives. But they had bills to pay like everyone else.

On top of all of this, today young people can no longer afford the college costs to get a PhD in psychology. Few MDs go into psychiatry as a specialty as the pay is low.

Reimbursements have risen somewhat, thank goodness. But the devastation on the field decades ago still resonates in the lack of providers to service the mental health needs of the American population.
My heart goes out especially to woefully underserved groups such as the LGBTQ population who have such a high rate of depression and suicide.
I wish I could take them all under my wing.

In terms of nursing home care, I spent some time in a nursing home/rehab center after I fell and fractured my spine in three places. I was one of the younger inmates and it was an eye opener the likes I which I cannot describe without shocking you.

My goal if I can afford it is to get some sort of home health aid when needed.

[Mr.Bill]

4. We just had a fake one occupy the White House for four years. n/t

[SoonerPride]

8. Beat me to it.

I was about to say the same thing.

[ironflange]

17. The Imitation Oligarch

[monkeyman1]

20. TDFG ------- A.K.A. -- BONNEY & CLYE of the whitehouse !!!!!

[leftstreet]

6. Seize their assets n/t

[I_UndergroundPanther]

7. Yes

Seize the assets of these putrid people. No one deserves to be allowed to get that rich while others suffer and get victimized by the ogliarches financial abuse.
Take all the assets of every last ogliarch away.

[Magoo48]

9. It is suggested we are already an oligarchy.

Now that money is free speech, only the rich have representation.

[mjvpi]

21. Our power is numbers. GOTV

[Moostache]

10. Eat the rich was a popular slogan as I recall...doesn't sound bad still! (n/t)

[LastDemocratInSC]

11. Oligarchs don't need nations the way that 99.9 percent of people do.

We need nations for a structured society and security, hopefully both are benevolent. Oligarchs can buy anything they need, effectively creating their own society and security forces often on large tracts of land or on islands (like Richard Branson's hideaway in the Bahamas).

An oligarch might prefer one nation over another due to the relative economic benefits and opportunities that facilitate his goals which may benevolent or not.

The bottom line is that oligarchs have little need for the citizens of any nation. A labor source or a standing army are probably the only things an oligarch finds citizens useful for.

[live love laugh]

12. All of the rich aren't oligarchs. Some honestly made $$ only benefitting from RW oligarchy tax laws.

[gab13by13]

13. Former ambassador to Russia, McFaul said the same thing.

He said we are making a mistake lumping all of the Russian oligarchs together, some made their money before Putin even came along. Putin even hates some of those oligarchs, he will be happy if sanctions are put on them.

[live love laugh]

15. I hope it will become apparent that the source of oligarchy is politicians -- not all of the rich.

Of course I’m lightyears away from being rich but still lumping Bezos with Trump is insane.

[Hekate]

14. As former President Jimmy Carter pointed out a couple of years ago. Not happy about it. nt

[Caliman73]

16. I'm sorry, don't you mean "job creators"?

The problem is that ANY country has Oligarchs. No one should make or have enough money to buy politicians and political power. I don't care if that sounds socialist, or communist, or whatever. When people are allowed so much money and power that they can influence and rival the power of government, that creates the situation where people are above the law. It creates corruption. It creates situations where people live in extreme misery while others live in decadence.

[Mr.Bill]

18. You know who the job creators are?

Customers. That's who we need to fund.

[Caliman73]

19. 100% correct.

The whole idea of "Supply Side Economics" is ridiculous. Even GHW Bush called it "Voodoo Economics". Certainly, making a "revolutionary" product like the iPhone can create a market, but like you said, if there are no customers for the product, there are no jobs to make it.

Worship of wealthy people as special, has been a hinderance to the true development and advancement of human beings as a species.

[Evolve Dammit]

23. Indeed!

[The Jungle 1]

22. I agree I am so sick of hearing about "job creators"

The right wing punks always say if we give them more money they will create jobs. What a lie.

[Ferrets are Cool]

28. Correct

[Percy]

25. Bernie Sanders has been saying it for some time ... and again a few weeks ago

Bernie Sanders Sarcastically Congratulates Billionaires for Making America an ‘Oligarchic Form of Society’

February 17, 2022

"Senate Budget Committee chair Bernie Sanders says there’s “really, really good news” — for the wealthiest Americans.

In a Senate floor speech, the progressive senator from Vermont took aim at billionaires and CEOs, and called for the government to take action on social and climate spending.

What I want to point out this afternoon is that while the vast majority of people in our country are hurting emotionally, they’re hurting economically, these are not difficult times for everybody,” Sanders said.

He said that for billionaires and CEOS of large corporations, “these times have not been bad — they in fact have been very, very good.”

“Maybe the time is approaching that we should offer a unanimous resolution congratulating the billionaire class for their enormous success in moving this country into the oligarchic form of society that they have long desired,” Sanders said."

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanders-sarcastically-congratulates-billionaires-for-making-america-an-oligarchic-form-of-society/

[Ford_Prefect]

26. They have Mitch on speed dial.

[tenderfoot]

27. Our oligarchs are behind the fuckery happening here.

We're talking fuckery with school boards, criminal smash & grab rings, gas price fuckery, 1/6/21 DC/Capitol fuckery, price gouging fuckery, COVID denial/misinformation fuckery.

Who needs Putin when you have these fuckers?