The US may have not been an oligarchy in the past, but under Trump, it's more an oligarchy now.

In the past, I've not agreed with some thinking on the left that the US was an oligarchy rather than a representative democracy. I've tended to blame people more than government, or business for our problems.

Now, it does look more and more like the US is an oligarchy. It may no longer be a democracy. Things change over time. It's a different situation now. The line between democracy and oligarchy has always been blurry. Under Trump, it's more on the oligarchy side of the line, meaning rule by only a small group of elites. Billionaires with even more power than before. I think it can migrate back toward democracy depending on the next primary and so forth.

My own life hasn't changed that much. Freedom of speech still exists for the time being. Things, here in Washington State and in Bellingham, are mostly normal, but rule at the federal level is mostly now done by executive order. The Republican Party is the ruling party for national government; somewhat running like a one party system.

Democrats in Congress still vote in opposition and if enough Republicans break rank and vote differently, that can move us back toward what I thought America was in past years.