Forum: Stop the plutocracy: "'Thus it is manifest that the best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, and that those states are likely to be well administered in which the middle class is larger and stronger -- if possible than both other classes.' -- Aristotle, Politics, Book IV

From time to time the relationship between the power of money, and this country's more noble progressive ideals get seriously out of balance. A classic example was at the turn of the last century. Branded the Gilded Age, it was an historical moment of obscene acquisition. Wealth ruled the nation, and thrived on influence, the manipulation of raw political power, and a total disregard for the democracy that had made this country strong. Similar periods occurred during the 1920s, and as recently as the 1980s and 1990s. Everything was for sale -- including the politicians who had been elected to guard the welfare of those who could not afford to protect themselves from the predatory appetites of the wealthiest members of American society. Serious evidence suggests that we are in the midst of another such period in American history."