Looking at the odd alignments that are happening around the world, it’s finally struck me what we are witnessing: realignment of power around the world on financial grounds — people who have tons of money and are inclined to use it to secure power. What we are seeing is basically unlimited money seeking unlimited power.
Why would Israel, Saudi, other Arab Gulf states, Russia, China and the US act in concert? Part of the answer is they aren’t necessarily acting as governments of sovereign states, but as aggregations of extreme wealth and ambition within existing political maps. Why would the EU be on the outs for this realignment? Why would Japan? Why are dictators on the inside? The whole picture has puzzled me for a while and this has become my working hypothesis, crazy as it may sound.
The EU and Japan are outside looking in because of institutional controls, stronger checks and balances, cultural/statutory limits on salaries and money aggregation, and taxation. Remember, the wealthy don’t dislike taxes on principle — taxes limit their ability to aggregate wealth for the purpose of aggregating power and casting off accountability.
The massively wealthy have become used to acting independently of governments, getting around limits on moving capital, taxation, founding common hiding places for money where they all turn up. People like the Mercers have made clear that they feel they should have carte blanche as rich and privileged people to do what they want anytime they want, the rest of us be damned. The secret meetings set up by and for Jared Kushner have been about consolidating power amongst the vastly monied, with the US government and the others only tools to be used with obstacles to be avoided in that mission.
The Bank of Malta, Alpha Bank, Putin’s National Bank and Trust, the Panama Papers, these are all chapters of the same book — the circumvention of governments and law by an ultra-wealthy cabal that shares interests amongst each other more than with their own countries of origin. For the first time in the history of mankind, sufficient wealth exists across enough borders with people of sufficiently like minds to create their own society.
We may be looking at the post-ideological world where the only ideology with real power is that of unimaginable wealth with ambitions to be wealthier and accountable to no one.
I hope I’m wrong, but this has been rattling around my head as I have looked for some motivation and ends for all the national and cross-national strongmen, wealth and accreting power.