Harold Bloom recently warned that “what we are seeing is the fall of America.” While such a statement is dire, Bloom himself is quite insightful and witty. I was captivated by his intelligence and what amounts to 70 years of critical thinking. In particular, he mentioned in passing that America is “a third oligarchy, a third plutocracy and a third theocracy”. I wondered, if that’s so, where would the presidential candidates line up? Here is my attempt at understanding them from this perspective:

Republicans Democrats
Oligarchy John McCain Hillary Clinton
Theocracy Mike Huckabee
Plutocracy Fred Thompson
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
Other Ron Paul Dennis Kucinich
Bill Richardson
Not Sure Barack Obama
John Edwards

Clinton, if elected, would obviously be a part of a 20-year oligarchical reign in America. She’s connected like no other. McCain is Bush’s heir apparent and, if the economy and things in Iraq weren’t such a mess, he would probably have already been declared the Republican nominee. Thompson, Romney and Giuliani are connected to the powerful Council on Foreign Relations—Giuliani is especially connected to elite power circles and thrives on loyalty and favors. Huckabee is the obvious theocrat in the bunch, although I think Romney also leans that way. The little guys, Paul and Kucinich, are the only remaining candidates who don’t fit in the “thirds”. As labeled above, I am unsure of the placement of Obama and Edwards.

Any thoughts?

Note: if you’re unfamiliar with the terms, here is a short primer with links to Wikipedia:

Oligarchy is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family or military powers).

Plutocracy refers to the rule or power through wealth or by the wealthy.

Theocracy is a form of government in which a God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler.