How the Iron Range became an outpost of the oligarchy

Thornton Oakley, “American Transportation Vital to Victory.” (IMAGE: Flickr CC-BY)

Today, I’ve got a new essay in the Minnesota Reformer: Just like Big Tech, American steel lines up with Trump oligarchy.”

We’re living in a period of accelerated change. But certain trends have been brewing for a while, and one of them is the rise of an oligarchy in the United States. You may have heard this sort of talk before from frantic, often annoying writers, and I can’t fault you if you now apply those terms to me. But my goal is to compare history with the present, theory and practice, to see how things really are. In this, I conclude that the U.S. system is morphing into something different than before. The best word I have for it is “oligarchy.” 

It’s not just tech billionaires who own the nation’s major communication systems lining up at President Trump’s inauguration. We see major industries around the country rushing to join a system that rewards loyal supporters regardless of market pressure or merit. Trump’s policies create a safe space for them, and only them.

And you’d better believe it will affect us in northern Minnesota, especially in the iron mining and steel industries. The blocked Nippon/U.S. Steel deal allows Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor to pick the bones of their old rival. After a barbed and surprisingly political press conference last week, Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is clearly angling for an alliance with President Trump. Goncalves will bring the Steelworkers with him, and whether the deal is good for the Range or not, we’ll all be committed to a course of action well beyond reversal in the next election. 

Whatever this is, we’re in it. It will be good for some, but only some. 

Read more in the Minnesota Reformer

Comments

  1. Somehow I needed to get the notice from Refomer for the amazing deep dig(no pun intended) you did on oligarchy madness. I hope more lifght comes through the cracks regarding possibly the two years of madness or longer we are about to experience. I had no idea of the bizarreness of the head of Cleveland Cliffs until the article. I would hpe this piece also apprears in the Strib. for a wider circulation. It deserves a wide read. Thank you

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