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George MonbiotJanuary 23, 2026 at 6:30 AM EST

1. This short thread is about the issue that dominates almost every aspect of politics, and causes or exacerbates most of our problems: the extreme wealth of a small number of people. Here’s the amazing thing: almost the entire political class aligns with the ultra-rich against the rest. 🧵1/10 2. There’s a basic metric by which you can tell who in politics are your allies and who are your enemies: whether they support or oppose the extreme concentration of wealth. Those who support it (let’s call them Group 1) are the political right. Those who oppose it (Group 2) are the political left. 3. As soon as you see politics in this light, you notice something extraordinary. Almost everyone's in Group 2. Polls in 36 nations found that 84% see economic inequality as a big problem, and 86% see the political influence of the rich as a major cause of it. pewresearch.org

4. In 33 of these nations, a majority believe their country’s economic system needs either “major changes” or “complete reform”. In the UK, a YouGov poll revealed, 75% support a wealth tax on fortunes above £10m, while only 13% oppose it. yougov.co.uk

5. But – and here’s the astonishing thing – almost the entire political class is in Group 1. They fiercely resist what the great majority want. Where, in the manifestoes of the biggest parties in almost any country, including those once on the left, will you find a call to make billionaires history? 6. And it’s not just politicians. Almost all the media belongs to Group 1. As the wealth and power of the proprietor class becomes ever greater and harder to justify, the views expressed in their outlets become ever crazier. 7. Immigrants, asylum seekers, Muslims, women, transgender people, disabled people, students, protesters: anyone and everyone must be blamed for our dysfunctions, except those causing them. Ever more extreme “culture wars” (a euphemism for divide-and-rule) must be waged. 8. You cannot have both a free market in media ownership and a free market in information and ideas. The oligarchs who dominate the sector stifle inconvenient thoughts and promote the policies that protect their fortunes. 9. We’ve become so used to all this that we hardly notice it. But isn’t it extraordinary? Almost everyone wants one thing, and almost everyone who represents us – whether in politics or the media – wants the opposite. Yet we tell ourselves we live in a democracy. 10. It’s time to recognise how deeply weird this is, reserve our votes for people who give us what we want, and stop subscribing to media outlets that lie on behalf of oligarchs. More on this subject, with facts and figures, in my most recent column: theguardian.com