For much of modern history, it was assumed that liberal democracy and capitalism went hand in hand; that free markets and free societies reinforced one another. But today, we’re watching a global shift where oligarchs and corporate elites are increasingly embracing authoritarianism over democracy. Why?
Analysts from around the world point to several key factors:
1. Democracy Is No Longer Necessary for Capitalist Stability
In the 20th century, capitalism relied on a stable middle class to drive consumer demand and prevent social upheaval. This is why many business elites once saw democracy, social safety nets, and labor protections as necessary evils to prevent socialist revolutions and maintain political stability.
But in the 21st century, the nature of capitalism has changed.
The economy is no longer as strongly driven by mass consumer spending. Wealth is now generated through financial speculation, technology monopolies, data extraction, and asset bubbles (asset bubbles are when the price of an asset rises rapidly and significantly above its intrinsic or fundamental value until it bursts) - not necessarily by selling goods to a strong middle class.
Automation and globalization have weakened the bargaining power of workers, making union-busting and wage suppression easier.
Capital is more mobile than ever. Billionaires don’t need strong domestic economies when they can move their money and production offshore, or extract wealth from digital platforms that transcend national borders.
2. Oligarchs Prefer Authoritarianism Because It Protects Their Wealth and Power
Democracy creates unpredictability for the super-rich. It gives people the power to vote for regulations, tax increases, labor protections, and public goods that threaten the dominance of billionaires. So rather than risk democratic accountability, oligarchs are funding the rise of authoritarian governments that will protect their interests.
Authoritarian states crush labor movements and regulate dissent.
In democratic societies, workers can organize, strike, and vote for laws that protect them. Authoritarianism eliminates these threats.
Example: In Russia, China, Hungary, and Turkey, crackdowns on labor unions and independent media have allowed oligarchs to operate with impunity.
Autocrats protect monopolies and weaken regulations.
Corporate elites don’t want free markets, they want rigged markets where they dominate.
Example: Under Trump, Musk, and other right-wing strongmen, regulatory agencies were gutted, allowing billionaires to consolidate even more power.
Authoritarianism helps billionaires avoid taxation.
In democratic systems, there is always the risk that public pressure will force governments to raise taxes on the rich.
In authoritarian states, elites can cut backroom deals to keep their wealth untouched.
3. Oligarchs Are Betting on Nationalism and Xenophobia to Keep the Public Distracted
Rather than address economic inequality, oligarchs fund ultra-nationalist movements that redirect public anger toward immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and marginalized communities.
Instead of blaming corporate greed for stagnant wages, people are told to blame “illegal immigrants.”
Instead of blaming billionaires for buying elections, the right tells people to fear “globalist elites” (coded antisemitism).
Instead of addressing climate catastrophe, they manufacture culture wars over trans rights, "woke capitalism," and “threats to traditional values.”
This divide-and-conquer strategy prevents mass uprisings against the real source of economic distress: the unchecked power of oligarchs.
4. Authoritarianism Expands Their Control Over Data and Surveillance
The modern economy is built on data and surveillance capitalism. The more billionaires and corporations can track, manipulate, and predict human behavior, the more control they have over markets and politics.
Democratic institutions place limits on surveillance.
Laws protecting privacy, free speech, and data rights make it harder for billionaires to monetize personal information and control public discourse.
Authoritarianism eliminates those limits.
Under autocratic regimes, surveillance capitalism expands unchecked, as states and corporations work together to monitor, censor, and manipulate public opinion.
Example: Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (X) has given him direct access to a real-time data stream on political discourse, organizing strategies, and movement building efforts - a goldmine for billionaires who want to suppress dissent.
5. The Climate Crisis is Making Oligarchs Abandon Democracy
One of the biggest unspoken reasons why oligarchs are turning against democracy is climate collapse.
The super-rich know that climate disasters will trigger mass migration, food shortages, economic instability, and resource wars.
They are preparing for mass unrest - not by solving the crisis, but by investing in private security forces, underground bunkers, and authoritarian governments that will crack down on protests and climate refugees.
Rather than support a Green New Deal, billionaires fund politicians who will ensure that climate policies protect their profits at the expense of the public.
What Can Be Done?
If oligarchs are choosing authoritarianism over democracy, we need to fight back on multiple fronts, some aspirational and others more immediately actionable:
Break Corporate Control Over Politics
End Citizens United and remove corporate money from elections.
Strengthen antitrust laws to prevent billionaires from monopolizing industries.
Organize for Economic Justice
Support labor movements, worker cooperatives, and economic democracy initiatives.
Demand higher taxes on billionaires and reinvest wealth into public goods.
Expose the Authoritarian Playbook
Call out how oligarchs use nationalism, racism, and manufactured crises to protect their wealth.
Educate communities about the real causes of economic instability.
Build Parallel Institutions
Support independent media, mutual aid networks, and decentralized organizing efforts that can operate outside state and corporate control.
Push for Democratic Reforms
Expand voting rights, corporate accountability, and protections for press freedom before autocrats can dismantle them further.
Conclusion: This Is a Fight for the Future
The world’s most powerful billionaires are choosing authoritarianism because they see democracy as a threat to their wealth and unchecked power. But this isn’t inevitable.
We are not just fighting against authoritarianism - we are fighting for a new vision of democracy. One that is more inclusive, more just, and more economically fair than the one oligarchs are trying to destroy.
Their strategy is fear, division, and control. Ours must be solidarity, boldness, and direct action. Because if we don’t fight for democracy now, we may not have another chance.
Remember when tycoons stamped skylines with glittering libraries, hospitals, even amusement parks? They needed us buying tickets and applauding their hubris, so they tossed up monuments of marble and steel. Those cathedrals of capital at least left a façade you could lean on.
Fast forward. Today’s billionaire does not bother with bricks. They sink cash into server farms you never see, patent walls you never scale, shell firms in zero-percent-tax Nirvanas. Value is sucked from data, rents, and vaporous financial tricks that turn neighborhoods into Airbnbs, workers into API calls, and democracy into a quarterly risk factor. Extraction is cleaner than construction. No unions, no zoning, no pesky gratitude to earn. Just a high frequency pipeline straight from your pocket to their Cayman vault.
Democracy is messy. Extraction loves silence. The less we vote, strike, or regulate, the faster they can mine the social bedrock and leave us squatting in the rubble of once-public goods.