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Zev Imani
Professor Taylor
English 1A
18 September 2014
The United States of American: An Oligarchy in Disguise
America is an oligarchy disguised as a democracy, giving the illusion of equality and
freedom to strengthen the control of the elite. Howard Zinn, a historian, holds a similar belief
show in his People's History of the United States: "The American system is the most ingenious
system of control in world history" (632). By this he means that America, one of the most
wealthy and powerful country, could use its wealth to better the lives of the many, but instead it
all this goes to the few wealth. This country's prosperity belongs to the owners, originally the
slave owners, the factory owners, but now the company owners. This is the very definition of
Oligarchy, stated by Aristotle in his essay Democracy and Oligarchy. "Therefore we should
rather say that democracy is the form of government in which the free are rulers, and oligarchy in
which the rich (are rulers); it is only an accident that the free are many and the rich are few" (63).
This states that in democracy the government is controlled by the normal people, and a oligarchy
is a government run by the rich. He also believes that there is no reason for there to be few rich
and many poor people, that is just how the world happens to be.
The United States of America is a country based on the principles of freedom and
democracy, but these core values have never been true. The Declaration of Independence says:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness." This document claims equality for all, yet at the time the only people who were
allowed to participate in this country were the white property owning males who founded it.
Control of the country belonged exclusively to the rich white settlers, but as times changed,

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slowly people began to fight for equality. In 1862 the slaves were freed, and in 1915 women
were given the same rights as men. These groups were given more equality, but are still not
equal, there is still racism and gender inequality. While the world no longer allows the
subjugation of an entire people, now oppression has become subtle force, permeating through
society.
In modern times the few in power, have shifted from leaders of men, to companies and
politicians that allow their power to exist. The wealthy few have now transformed the world so
that money is synonymous with power, and speech. Even presidents, the symbol of Americas'
democracy, for the past 50 years have been millionaires. In these elections the people thing they
decide, but they can only choose between presidents who have spend hundreds of millions of
dollars on their campaigns. The only way to fund these elections is through huge companies that
support politicians so that they will support company interests. Politics have become intertwined
with the policies of companies, and this has created an economy where these companies can do
whatever will make them more money. These companies control a large part of the government,
and the public through their wealth, and power over everyone else's jobs and money. The people
who control these companies, the few richest people, get to make decisions that affect everyone.
Oligarchy is exactly that, the few control the many.
When America began it was the least democratic it has ever been, but it has gradually
been comer closer to its founding values. The middle class has become educated on the plight of
the people who are oppressed, and fought to gain them equal rights. This has been the driver of
creating an equal democracy, the average public wants it, and can slowly help the lower class
become equals. This works to help people directly oppressed, but they have never been able to
spread the wealth of the oligarchs to the people. There have been attempted social movements

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such as Occupy Wall Street, but none have been successful enough to cause a lasting change. In
the future a movements might arise that do succeed in creating spreading the wealth, but the
most powerful people, are not bound to a single nation, they go wherever a profit can be made.
America is controlled by companies run by the rich elite. The democracy of the
government is a facade, used to prevent the people from rebelling against their own oppression
as they have with other social issues. The wealthy control the public, through advertisement, the
economy, manipulating the government, and control of resources. The America government is an
oligarchy, its controlled by a few wealthy people who pretend that it's a democracy. If it was a
real democracy, anyone could be in power, and there wouldn't be people with nothing. The
control of the elite is not just in America, they control most of the world and its resources,
causing permanent damage to environment, and weaker nation