Echoing Socrates: Biden on Oligarchy
The discussion on oligarchy resonates with Plato’s Republic. Indeed, Biden’s warning mirror many of the critiques in it.
In his farewell address to the nation on January 15th 2025, President Biden warned that oligarchy threatens the United States' democracy.
Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.
His warning comes a little too late as an oligarchy has long been taking shape in this country. Being that it is blatantly here now, what do we do? I like to look to history and philosophy to see what has been said about the topic before. The discussion on oligarchy resonates with Plato’s Republic. Indeed, Biden’s warning mirror many of the critiques in it. Reflecting that the speech writer paid attention in class.
In the Republic, Socrates discusses oligarchy (along with other flawed governments), noting its moral and social defects; stressing its fundamental injustice and instability. Biden touches on similar ideas within his speech when referring to current economic and political disparities threatening the very democratic foundations of the United States.
Socrates describes an oligarchy as a system in which wealth becomes the standard for political power and governance is handed over to a select few. He argues that this degrades justice, placing material wealth above moral and intellectual virtues. Biden reflects on this concern in his farewell address, cautioning against “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people.” Both warn that unrestrained wealth distorts governance and alienates the wider public, undermining the fundamental principle of equal representation.
Socrates illustrates this by noting that oligarchies prevent the poor from participating in governance, effectively creating two cities within one: the wealthy rulers and the oppressed masses. Biden’s speech draws attention to our present situation, revealing how economic disparities foster societal divisions and undermine trust in democratic institutions. Biden’s critique of oligarchy underlines the need to reform tax codes and reduce corporate influence in politics to ensure that wealth does not transform into unchecked power. I have little hope that can be accomplished sadly.
Another key theme in Socrates' critique is the division of society into economic classes. He notices that oligarchies inevitably breed animosity between the wealthy and the poor, undermining the stability of the state. This divide is reflected in Biden’s remark that concentrated wealth “erodes a sense of unity and common purpose.” For both Socrates and Biden, the separation of society into privileged and marginalized groups fosters an atmosphere of mistrust and disillusionment, further alienating citizens from the political process.
Socrates argues that oligarchies often lead to demagoguery or tyranny as the disenfranchised pursue extreme measures to address their sense of injustice. This observation alone lets us know that oligarchy has been developing for decades, which has resulted to the demagogues such as Trump to rise to power.
Socrates argues that oligarchic rulers ignore the common good to protect their wealth. He describes oligarchs as risk-averse, hesitant to invest in policies or initiatives that would benefit the wider populace if they perceive a threat to their interests. We can see this concern in Biden’s speech when he says that “powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interest for power and profit.”
Socrates grieves the moral decay present in oligarchies, where the quest for wealth takes precedence over the cultivation of virtue. This results in a society where greed becomes the prevailing value, eroding the integrity of both leaders and citizens. In Biden's speech, he highlights similar moral shortcomings, criticizing how the influence of dark money and unchecked corporate power skews democratic processes and weakens accountability.
With Socrates, moral decay seeps into the individual soul, where a love of money undermines the balance essential for a virtuous life. In this context, Biden's push for ethical reforms—such as prohibiting stock trading by members of Congress and enforcing corporate accountability—aligns with Socrates' focus on restoring integrity in governance.
It is in times such as these which we are in, we should examine the philosophical tradition of the Greeks for guidance and inspiration. It enrages me how the far-right misuses the works of Plato to support their agendas. However it is this very tradition which provides us the tools and means to fortify ourselves and combat them.