The 2025 book on oligarchy that may explain 2026

Inside the US, crackdown on immigrants has led to the killing of an unarmed US citizen by an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agent in Minneapolis. On the economic front, job growth has faltered and, quite worryingly for any and everyone who lent money to the US, the US Department of Justice is now opened criminal investigation against the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve (their central bank) — a move that is being seen as a threat to the independence of the Fed.

Given its status and role in global affairs, the actions of the US President tend to have wide-ranging ramifications even when he (and hopefully, someday a ‘she’) doesn’t want to be interventionist. But as we come close to the completion of the first full year of Trump’s second term, his deeply interventionist policies have left no one untouched — be it a poor shrimp farmer along the coasts or a young man hoping to create a better life in the US.

If you think Trump’s decisions are spot on — and there are many who think so, albeit not perhaps outside the US — then of course there is no issue. But if you disagree with his actions, the most important question in your mind would be the same that was there in 2025: Is there no way to stop this madness?

There is. And it is called the midterm elections. Come November 2026, all the seats in the US House of Representatives and one-third of the seats in the US Senate will be up for grabs. As of this moment, the Trump-led Republican Party is in control in both houses of the US Congress but if the US voters have had enough by then, November 3rd could see Donald become a “lame duck” president. In other words, if the US Congress is in the hands of the opposition Democratic Party, the US President will be lucky to avoid impeachment leave alone getting any legislative agenda passed.

How likely is that?

It is true that Kamala Harris’ spectacular loss in 2024 — she lost all the battleground states and saw the whole country shift Republican, even in so-called deep blue states like New York and California — left the Democrats in dust. But that’s where November 5 from last year is crucial. It was the day that saw the surprising victory of Zohran Mamdani as the Mayor of New York.

Mamdani’s victory was like driving a stake through the heart of capitalism. In his victory speech Mamdani said things that no one ever thought one could say in the US and get away with it.

Sample this: ‘We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism…I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical. As the great Senator from Vermont once said, “What’s radical is a system which gives so much to so few and denies so many people the basic necessities of life”,’ said Mamdani.

Mamdani was not the only one who won last November. It was sort of a blue wave. Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Governor’s race in Virginia, becoming the first female governor of the state. Ghazala Hashmi was elected Lieutenant Governor — becoming the first Muslim woman in a statewide office. In New Jersey, another state, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the Governor’s election. While there may be differences of opinion among them, all of them won on an agenda of affordability — promising to make the government work towards easing the affordability crisis.

So away from the everyday threats of taking over sovereign countries and yet claiming to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, something could be fundamentally changing on the ground. That’s because Trump’s economic policies have failed to address the growing inequalities in the US. And it won’t be surprising if the scales tilt furiously to the other side in November and voters hand over the political power to the other view of how the US and the world should be governed.

What is that view?

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani recommended Fight Oligarchy by Bernie Sanders.

That’s the focus of this edition of BLT. The book in question is by the Vermont Senator Mamdani talked about: Fight Oligarchy by Bernie Sanders. It came out late last year and essentially talks about a movement led by Sanders to get public support towards electing a candidate that can “fight oligarchy” in the US.

“Oligarchy is a system in which a small number of extremely wealthy individuals control the economic, political, and media life of a nation. It is a system in which ordinary people have very little power to determine the future of their country,” writes Sanders.

Many well-to-do Indians got a hint of the ills of an oligarchy when Indigo airlines failed to provide service. It made Indians examine, at least for those few days, the structure of India’s economy. But let’s stick to the US because it is often the flag-bearer of the kind of economy India wants to become.

In the very first chapter, Sanders lays out the nature and extent of the problem.

“In America today…while the rich get richer, the middle class struggles to pay the rent, put food on the table, and pay for health care. The poor live in desperation…One man (Elon Musk), worth nearly $400 billion, now owns more wealth than the bottom 52 percent of American households. The top 1 percent own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent. And the CEOs of large corporations make 350 times more than their average employee.”

This is still not the most stunning bit. The inequality and concentration of power is not just about income or wealth. Sanders points out that “that just four companies in America control 80 percent of the processing of beef, 70 percent of pork, and nearly 60 percent of poultry.”

Now here is the most alarming bit: Just three huge Wall Street firms — Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street — are the major stockholders in 95 percent of S&P 500 corporations.

And this leads to remarkable results.

“You want to know who owns General Motors? Well, their three largest shareholders are Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street. Okay. But who owns Ford, GM’s supposed rival? If you guessed Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street, in that same exact order, you would be correct. What about the big oil companies, ExxonMobil and Chevron? That’s right. Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street are the three largest shareholders of both those companies. How about Pfizer, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson, three huge pharmaceutical companies? Yup. Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street own all three.”

It is tempting to keep quoting but you get the drift.

The book is fairly small in length — you can read it in a day or max over the weekend, and is written, as you can see, in a manner that reads like a very engaging political speech. Furthermore, it is reasonably priced be it the print or the audible version.

A particularly standout chapter in the book is titled: “Some lessons from History”. It is a short recounting of how many things that are today considered par for the course were thought to be “radical” in US (and global) history. Slavery, racial segregation, an eight-hour work day, free public education, women’s right to vote, rights of the LGBT community: There are many examples of what the world thought too radical at one point in time and has now become the norm. For Sanders, it is time to fight oligarchy and restructure the US economy — a thought just as radical as Trump’s policies.

Whether you agree with Sanders or not, this book is thought-provoking and — if political winds continue to disfavour Trump — it holds the secret of where the next stage of US politics might lie. Three short letters: AOC.

Although she has not yet announced a bid but if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were to win the 2028 US presidential elections, for many Americans (and people elsewhere), it would mark a step towards the US becoming a vibrant democracy that leads prioritises the economic well-being of all instead of a few oligarchs. It is another matter that in the eyes of many others Venezuela would have taken ample revenge on the US in case she wins!

Is the Indian economy on the right path? What changes should India’s government make to the economy’s structure in order to realise our potential?

Share your views and queries at udit.misra@expressindia.com

Take care,

Udit