“One has to understand what the enemy is all about: the enemy’s history, the enemy’s culture, the enemy’s aspirations. If you understand these well, you can perhaps move toward peace.” –Zbigniew Brzeziński
What Is Going On?
A small group of ultra-wealthy billionaire individuals—numbering roughly 3,000—holds significant influence over political and economic systems in the United States and around the world. Within this group, some actively drive policies and practices that exacerbate inequality, while others seek to promote positive change. Some remain neutral, and others may be unaware of the broader impacts of their wealth and power.
To respond effectively to these dynamics, it is essential to understand who holds influence, what their goals are, and how their actions—whether intentional or not—shape the systems that affect us all.
This page is your guide to understanding the current global and domestic power structures. Find reliable information about autocracy, oligarchy, political movements, and policy shifts shaping the U.S. and the world. From investigative journalism to open data sources, these resources will help you cut through the noise and understand the forces influencing our lives.
Want a quick-and-dirty list of how you and states can fight back? Check out these sites.
Go to the Volunteering or Donations page for more ways you can help.
Quick Reads
- Oligarchy in the open: What happens now as the U.S. is forced to confront its plutocracy problem?
- Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy (Article from 2014!)
- Oligarchy in America
- Science Tells Us the U.S. Is Heading toward a Dictatorship
- The Money Agenda [plan for the future]
- Public Choice (written by a conservative group)
Books
- Dark Money by Jane Mayer
- Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum
- Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
- Haves and Have Yachts by Evan Osnos
- More Everything Forever by Adam Becker
- How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
- It’s Time to Fight Dirty by David Faris
- Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean
- Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland
- The People vs Democracy by Yascha Mounk
- Money, Lies and God by Katherine Steward
- How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
- The Conservative Ascendency by C. Wright Mills
- Network Propaganda by Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts
- Winner-Take-All Politics by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson
- The Affluent Society by John Kennth Galbraith
- For the People? Democratic Representation in America by Martin Gilens
- Democracy in America? by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
- Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein
- The Tyranny of The Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Learn More About Happenings In Your Country
[In 2024] Billionaire spending heavily favored Republicans. Over two-thirds (70%) of billionaire-family contributions went in support of GOP candidates and conservative causes. — Billionaires Buying Elections: They’ve Come to Collect