American Ruling Class

The American system is on the surface a democracy. However, it is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world, has some the the worst poverty, crime, and police violence in the developed world, and has a government that does not represent most of the people's actual goals.

America is not a one-party state, but is in effect a two-party state, with only two really relevant parties in every state government and every level of the federal government. Fundamentally, the parties have very few differences between them, and are both entirely subservient to capitalist ideology and the interests of American capital. The conservative party is the Republican Party, and the liberal party is the Democratic Party. There is no labor party, and the American Green Party is essentially politically irrelevant. Some would argue that the Republican party is moving towards being a fascist party, and it definitely has a fascist wing.

Both parties are unapologetically pro-capitalist and anti-socialist in their rhetoric. The social-democratic small wing of the Democratic Party is the one exception, though that wing is not even that far left-leaning compared to most of the world. Rich capitalists regularly join the political process, and corporations often send their people into government in the cabinets of presidents of both parties and as lobbyists. Both parties receive massive donations from the rich, which is necessary for the political process and ensures the wealthy have their interests met.

Both parties are majority Christian in leadership(and the actual elected representatives are massively disproportionately Christian), and the language of Christianity and God exist in both parties and in government, despite the government's usual claims of religious equality. The Republicans are the party of America's religious fundamentalists, which are numerous for such a developed country, though religious ideology is a small component of the Democrats as well.

America's unique brand of "freedom" is the freedom for oppressive non-governmental institutions to rule the population in non-democratic ways. This shows up in the massive power of corporations, well beyond that of even other capitalist countries, to crush unions, abuse and propagandize their workers, lie about their products and actions, destroy the environment, lease prisoners from the government as forced labor, pay no taxes, and rule like kings over dependent workers and even consumers in certain industries. American corporations are increasingly monopolized, and so much of the American state is privatized that much of it moves outside the oversight of elected officials.

This also extends to American "religious freedom," which in reality provides massive benefits and power to religious institutions, generally Christian churches, and allows religious organizations and individuals to discriminate against the vulnerable. Corporate media and entertainment oligopolies and powerful religious institutions maintain and powerful propaganda system that reinforces the ruling class, and traps people in an ideology of ultranationalism and neoliberalism that is like that of any dictatorship.

The American government also has what could be called a "Deep State," not a shadowy conspiracy secretly running the country, but a deep bureaucracy that exists and reproduces itself outside of democratic control because it is too large, too secretive, too powerful, and too complex for elected officials to control it or clear out its bad actors, let alone for the people to vote in such a way as to attack it. America has more prisoners than any country in the world, the largest military in the world by a ridiculous margin, some of the most powerful and invasive intelligence agencies on the planet, a highly militarized and large police force, massive private corporations it is reliant on, and a network of smaller governments and private organizations that receive billions of dollars in aid money.

Richest Americans (List as of June 12, 2021)

1. Jeff Bezos
2. Bill Gates
3. Mark Zuckerberg
4. Warren Buffett
5. Larry Ellison
6. Steve Balmer
7. Elon Musk
8. Larry Page
9. Sergey Brin
10. Alice Walton
11. Jim Walton
12. Rob Walton
13. MacKenzie Scott
14. Michael Bloomberg
15. Charles Koch

American government:

* President Joe Biden
* Vice President Kamala Harris
* Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
* The Supreme Court

Powerful American Pastors:

* Kenneth Copeland
* Pat Robertson

Influential American Think Tanks

See Also:

* American Empire
* Links between American Organized Crime and the Ruling Class