David Nyberg lives in Bath.

Ancient Athens is the birthplace of democracy. With its guaranteed protection of free speech, its residents believed it to be the best way of governing. Spartans disagreed. After their attack on Athens for claiming this free speech right, democracy there was paused and free speech silenced.

Years later ensued the trial and death of Socrates, who was seen to have defended the attack on democracy, which in theory he did because he favored aristocracy.

Socrates viewed aristocracy as rule by the elite few who are best qualified to serve the common good because of their practical experience, rationality and moral goodwill. However, Athens was overrun not by aristocrats, but by elite oligarchs who had different motives.

Oligarchy is rule by a few, however unqualified they are (in experience, rationality or moral goodwill), in order to serve their own self-interests. Oligarchs are “us” and Democrats are “them.” The current nomenclature for this bifurcation is “real Americans“ and “radical liberals,” or “socialists.”

In President Donald J. Trump’s exclusive circle of Cabinet appointees and donors, the majority of these oligarchs are also plutocrats. Plutocracy is a sub-class of oligarchy identified by their belief that it is the rich who should rule. Trump is working daily to fulfill his plutocratic dream of rule by the rich few, with himself as the boss. (Ironically, the so-called “MAGA base” of his electoral support comprises mostly lower-income, less educated, underemployed people who feel excluded from all sorts of privilege promised by democracy. Trump’s strategy is to stoke this feeling into anger and then promise to “fix it.”)

Rule by a singular boss is called monarchy (or the mafia). Monarchy is meant to be fixed and self-perpetuating. On the other hand, democracy is rule by the many for the common good. The democratic ideal is for elections, based on voters’ satisfaction with how well the common good is being served, to determine the rotating composition
of government.

Trump has said publicly, and his actions confirm, that he does not think about affordability for Americans, which is a paraphrase for disregarding the common good. Therefore, from a democratic point of view, he has failed his office as a democratic president. He is instead the boss of a plutocracy. It’s his dream comes true, at least for himself and his family. But not for us.

In rebuttal to this plutocratic plundering, two approaches have been making news, but many readers are confused about how they differ.

The first and more far-reaching one is democratic socialism. It springs from the assumption that capitalism itself is the problem, because private ownership of large entities concentrates power so that the enormous gap between “us” and “them” becomes unbridgeable. Any attempt to bridge that gap (even Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid) must be stymied, if not figuratively blown up.

The unrealistic goal of democratic socialism is to create an economy where private ownership of large entities (energy, banks, various industries) is eventually supplanted by some kind of co-op formula for ownership. Although the outcome would be revolutionary, the means would not be. They would be democratic means (elections, legislation).

The second approach, social democracy, is more modest. It emphasizes adjusting what already exists, namely a form of capitalism that allows private ownership in business and industry, but one that could work much better to serve a wider spectrum of the public good. The ideal here is reforming rather than replacing.

Efforts of reform focus on adjusting sources of tax revenue to increase support for public services in healthcare, education, employment, pensions and so on. The goal of social democrats is to emulate more closely the Nordic (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) achievements in using a reasonable amount of the bounty of free market success to care for their citizens who need the care.

Let’s make ancient Athens live again by shaking Donald Trump out of his delusional dream and voting next time for someone who will care for our citizens who need care.