Louis Brandeis on Corporate Oligarchy
on Friday, September 27, 2013Louis D. Brandeis Money Quotation saying over 70 years ago while Supreme Court Justice that we must choose between true representative government or corporate oligarchy ruled by wealth. Louis D. Brandeis said:
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both” — Louis D. Brandeis
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In this quote, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis is making the argument that concentrated economic power and a robust democratic system are inherently at odds. He suggests it is not possible to maintain a true democracy when wealth is heavily concentrated “in the hands of a few” individuals or corporations.
Brandeis implies that immense financial influence will inevitably be used to shape policy-making and politics in a way that undermines popular representation. The quote conveys Brandeis’ view that democratic governance depends on a broad distribution of economic power that prevents any single group from dominating the political process according to its narrow interests.
He appears to believe measures are needed to deconcentrate wealth in order to protect mass participation and self-rule in society.
Birthday: November 13, 1856 – Death: October 5, 1941
Steve Sack, The Minneapolis Star Tribune
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