John F. Bridgers: The demise of democracy

Charles M. Blow’s March 8 column “The end of American idealism” was one of the most accurate and concise descriptions of America today that I have come across.

I only wish that he had used a better word than “oligarchy” to describe our current form of government.

Besides oligarchy (government by the few) the ancient Greeks also gave us the term “plutocracy,” meaning government by the wealthy, which better describes our current political system.

Some modern writers have come up with “dollarocracy” or “one dollar, one vote” as a substitute for plutocracy.

Either word (plutocracy or dollarocracy) unfortunately has, in the interest of accuracy, replaced the Greek term “democracy” (government by the people) that once described our form of government.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "John F. Bridgers: The demise of democracy."