Twenty years ago today, our solar system lost a planet when Pluto was demoted to the status of dwarf planet. In 1906, amateur astronomer Percival Lowell began searching for a possible ninth planet in our solar system, which he called Planet X. Pluto was discovered in 1930, fourteen years after Lowell’s death by then 23 year old astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. But Pluto’s size was much less than scientists expected for a ninth planet, and continually downsized over the years until, on August 24, 2006, its status as a planet shifted. Many of us were and remain saddened by this reclassification. I don’t think Pluto itself cares. It just does its thing out there, deep in space.
The name “Pluto” comes from the Roman name for the God of the underworld. The Greeks called him Hades. For me, however, “pluto” has a different meaning as well, as short for “plutocracy.”
The definition of “plutocracy” is simple. It means a system of government or society controlled directly or indirectly by its wealthiest individuals. Government by the rich, of the rich, and for the rich. The word comes from the Greek “ploutos,” wealth, and “kratos.” power or rule. Why is this important to me now? I have been thinking for a long time that the United States is being run by the very, very rich people, families and corporations who control the economy. I have mentioned before C, Wright Mills’ 1956 book, The Power Elite, that expresses the same theory. If you just follow the money, the conclusion seems inescapable. If there is profit to be made, the super-rich will do whatever it takes to get more.
What’s happening in Gaza? The West Bank? Ukraine? Syria? Venezuela? Our attention has been fully co-opted by Donald Trump’s war of choice. While we bluster and push against Iran and Israel pushes itself deeper into Lebanon, other key issues disappear from our thoughts. But they still go on. Children face starvation. Refugees seek shelter. People are being killed.
Trump loves it. In his tiny but expanding bubble, he loves to bully and threaten. He loves us to be confused and terrified of what he will do next. Meanwhile, he is lining his pockets and pushing his ultimate one-word agenda, oil. Forget Jeffrey Epstein. Forget the 2026 midterms. Look at me—Donald Trump, King of the World, owner of Venezuela and the Strait of Hormuz and a percentage of every gas pump in America and the world.
And yet, for all his increased wealth while President over the last year and a half, Trump still ranks only 201 on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. There are 200 entities who have more than him. For them, Trump is the distraction, the clown show the rest of us are watching while they steal us blind. Between oil and Artificial Intelligence and the Crypto Ponzi scam, they all are getting richer at the same exponential rate he is. If democracy collapses in the bargain, they stand to profit from the collapse. And, like the dwarf planet Pluto, these plutocrats don’t care.
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