tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post1519736751550657755..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Dictionary of Micro Rants: OligarchyBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-78779737537445615242012-09-14T09:12:53.240-04:002012-09-14T09:12:53.240-04:00Good question. Note that I don't intend my Dic...Good question. Note that I don't intend my Dictionary of Micro Rants to offer standard definitions. The goals are to summarize my longer articles on this blog and to concisely explain these topics, with a little satire thrown in for good measure (like in Bierce's Devil's Dictionary).<br /><br />But to your point, you're right that the word "oligarchy" isn't pejorative in that sense. However, my explanation of oligarchy combines three factors: the evolutionary dominance hierarchy, the Iron Law of Oligarchy, and the proverb that the greater the concentration of power, the greater the corruption. An oligarchy is when the minority rule the majority, which means that power is concentrated in relatively few hands. That concentration will corrupt the oligarchs, assuming they're not already corrupt or sociopathic for having climbed to the top of the dominance hierarchy. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-4714244737808637662012-09-14T00:39:56.865-04:002012-09-14T00:39:56.865-04:00Where in the traditional definition of oligarchy d...Where in the traditional definition of oligarchy does it say that the "few" must be "vicious"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com