Big Picture
G7 politicians talk about oligarchs – fat-cat business leaders – linked to Russia that have too much power. Alas, America and 75 other countries have their own breeds of odious oligarchs that are inflicting misery whilst destroying the planet.
In point of fact, America’s oligarchs are spearheading the fleecing of Mother Earth. A small number of filthy rich billionaires own and control much of the global economy. And increasingly, they own and control the American government through a corrupt campaign finance system.
Since 2020, five billion people have become poorer while the world’s five most ruthless billionaires have more than doubled their riches at a rate of $14 million an hour.
Elon Musk, the world’s most moneyed human has added $120 billion to his fortune just since Election Day. Jeff Bezos, the world’s second amasser, became $67 billion wealthier in December alone. The third flushest overlord and ‘Donold Cult’ mega donor, Larry Ellison, saw his bank balance bulge by $12 billion the day after Election Day. While Mark Zuckerberg fortified his meddling empire by $90 billion last year.
The tyrants on the top are becoming stinking rich. Over the previous decade, the wealthiest 1% of the population have accrued $42 trillion in new wealth. At the same time, the wealth of the bottom half barely budged at all.
More specifically, the top 1% of the wealth has more than 95% of the people in the world.
Outrageously, the greediest ‘repugnants’ are stashing up to $32 trillion in offshore tax havens, like the Cayman Islands, in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes to governments globally. Governments are underfunded while the acquisitive one percentile conceal trillions of dollars.
Meanwhile the uber affluent do spend money to protect their incredible wealth. They do it by buying influence and increasingly by buying our elections.
Billionaires in the U.S. comprise 0.000002% of the population – a handful of humans – yet they account for 80% of the 2024 electoral spending. A few people are spending vast amounts of money to buy elections. That is, 150 billionaire families spent $2 billion to buy our recent election, 2024.
Elon Musk spent at least $277 million to prop up Donald Trump. That undisguised back-scratching will work swimmingly for Musk. There are a hundred thousand new satellites to be launched into space during the forthcoming administration. Consequently, SpaceX will be at the front of that lucrative government handout queue.
The major defence contractors spent $38 million this election cycle. They will reap the rewards of a trillion-dollar military budget with massive amounts of waste rife with corruption.
AIPAC, a billionaire-funded super PAC, spent over $100 million to help defeat two of the most vocal opponents of the extremist right-wing Netanyahu government and its godawful Gaza Strip war.
This is not a democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is OLIGARCHY!
This issue of oligarchy is THE most important issue facing our country and the World.
It touches on everything else: global heating, mass extinction, biosphere poisoning, availability of freshwater and food, healthcare, a decent standard of living, whether we can eliminate poverty and Indigenous governance.
Little Picture
So, what can we mortals on Main Street do? LOTS!
The best way to disrupt these revolting moneygrubbers is to refuse them your money. That means eschewing materialism and consumerism. Instead, take your power back by growing food, everywhere.
Switch to a plant-based diet. It’s easy, healthy and wilderness-friendly. The most precious remaining Mother Earth jewels are tucked away within wilderness. Wilderness is irreplaceable. “In wilderness is the preservation of the world,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in 1851. Transnational organised crime, bank and asset management-funded consumerism is devouring wilderness at warp speed. Hence, it warrants guarding, right this very second!
Google direct-action environmental organisations. There are many effective groups. Take your pick. Support, volunteer and stand your Mother Earth watch! And by all means, do partake in disobedient protests.
Make time each day to disconnect with your screen and reconnect with Mother Earth in your backyard, green spaces, deserts (in the winter), or better still along riverbanks, lakeshores, seasides or forests. Breathe. Look around. Listen. Go barefoot. Snowshoe. Be still. Feel our Mother’s pulse. Revitalise.
Focus on the micro. Do what YOU can to change your small corner every day. Refuse waste. Embrace thriftiness. Be curious. Be kind. Read books. Assist the elderly. Help the animals. Live in the moment. Laugh more. Enjoy music. Never give up. Never be silent.
Together, WE, the Mother Earth-lovers, are an inexorable force for our kith and kin, the Animal and Plant Kingdoms.
© 2025 Reese Halter
Illegitimi non carborundum
(Don’t let the bastards grind you down.)
Reese Halter is a bees/trees/seas defender.
Unearthly Wails is a special edition, a collection of poetry
illustrated by renowned Ojibwa artist Terry McCue.
Email: HalterBooks@gmail.com to order
