Without hesitation, Moore answered, "Capitalism."
That philosophy (of capitalism being more important than "We the People" democracy), has held the Republican Party in its thrall for the past 40 years, and has brought America to this moment of great crisis and danger.
It has transformed America from a democracy to an oligarchy, and the point of no return is now visible. And that presents a true crisis for America, because oligarchy is almost always merely a transitional phase in the evolution of full-blown tyranny and/or fascism.
Oligarchies are inherently unstable forms of government because they transfer resources from working people to the oligarchs. Average people, seeing that they're constantly falling behind, first become cynical and disengage, and when things get bad enough they try to revolt.
That "revolution" can either lead to the oligarchy failing and the nation flipping back to democracy, as happened here in the 1860s and the 1930s, or it can flip into full-blown strong-man tyranny, as happened recently in Hungary, Turkey and Russia, and nearly happened here on January 6th.
Oligarchies almost always become police states where any average person who dares seriously challenge the ruling oligarchs is squashed like a bug, while the oligarchs themselves are immune from prosecution and get to keep their billions regardless of how many people die because of their crimes.
Oligarchic governments almost always do a few predictable things, as I lay out in The Hidden History of American Oligarchy:
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They change laws and regulations so their rich buddies can take control of most of the media.
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They stack the courts and regulatory agencies with oligarch-friendly ideologues or outright corrupt toadies, while massively eliminate regulatory protections for average citizens.
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They cut taxes on the rich and drive wages low on working people while criminalizing and cracking down on dissent, particularly if it involves any sort of direct action or property damage.
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They distract voters from their own looting by demonizing minorities and encouraging racism and regionalism.
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They actively suppress the vote among people inclined to oppose them (typically minorities and the young), or outright rig the vote to insure their own victory.
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And they transform their nations into police states, heavily criminalizing demonstrations, nonviolent resistance or "direct action" property damage while radicalizing and encouraging rightwing vigilante "militias" to put down the inevitable rebellions as people realize what's happening.
To stop this trend, Congress and the White House must take definite steps to undo a series of disastrous Supreme Court decisions that culminated with Citizens United in 2010, and thus reduce the political power of billionaires, giant corporations and their lobbyists. We need to get money out of politics, and return politics to the people through public funding of elections.
The starting point to back down oligarchy now, in this era, is found in the House of Representatives' first proposed legislation, HR1, also known as the "For The People Act." Tragically, because this legislation doesn't involve budget issues, it's subject to a Republican filibuster, forcing a required 60 votes in the Senate to pass.
That's why Americans must reach out to lobbyist-aligned Democrats like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, demanding they help the rest of the Democratic Party -- end the filibuster now or at least transform it into a "Jimmy Stewart Filibuster." (The phone number for the Senate is 202-224-3121.)
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