Plutocratic comes from the Greek pluto (rich) and cratia (rule). In English the word plutocratic first appeared in a minor book which appeared in 1631 describing various different characters. The virtually unknown author Saltonstall writes briefly about a world in which the main god is riches and “the most universal government is now a plutocracy”.
The next reference appears some 20 years later in a book called Jewel by the poet and translator of Rabelais Thomas Urquhart. The main subject is Scotland. He complains bitterly that there is a lot of poverty and as a result no money for literature. He describes the times and gives a definition of plutocracy as “the sovereign power of money”.
Obviously the word plutocracy relates to a political system. Throughout the 1800s, it is frequently used in comparison to other small groups of rulers – aristocracies or oligarchies. Where money rules the world, it is concentrated in few hands. Examples are modern day Russia where some 110 of the super-rich own 35% of the wealth of the whole country. In the US, the top 0.1% now generates approximately 8% of national income.
Rutherford Hayes, the 19th President of the United States made a comment which echoes that of Urquhart. “Abolish plutocracy if you would abolish poverty. As millionaires increase, pauperism grows. The more millionaires, the more paupers. “
