United States of Oligarchy : How America's Wealthiest Ally with Dictators, Weaken the U.S., and Destroy Democracy

An staggering examination of how America's wealthiest infiltrated the government and allied with dictators, transforming the U.S. from democracy to oligarchy. From the Rockefellers to the Vanderbilts, the world’s richest families have for centuries built their fortunes on American soil, serving as capitalistic success stories who grew their wealth among free markets and democratic protections. Now, that balance has shifted. Rather than the moguls and magnates of previous generations, the wealthiest individuals of the 21st century are oligarchs unto themselves – and owe much of their wealth to the most anti-democratic forces around the world. Many of these oligarchs have flung open the doors of influence to dictators from Russia and China, while others have opened new streams of financing and infiltration to regimes in places like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Others have transformed entire industries into playthings for dictatorships in secret. All the while, the Trump administration appears to be unabashedly selling American policy to the highest bidders across the globe, from Qatar to Vietnam and far beyond. In United States of Oligarchy, Casey Michel illuminates a story decades in the making, from the earliest efforts to combat American oligarchs, to the new crop of oligarchs dominating American democracy and making the world safe for dictatorship–all for their own benefit. The oligarchs have risen and are attempting to reign. The only question remaining is whether or not it’s too late to stop them.