Our new form of goverment

A friend of mine recently posted that the incoming administration was going to be a:

kleptocracy = government by theft

I agreed with the spirit, but disagreed with the specifics. I did a teeny bit of googling, and came up with this term:

pseudocracy = government by lies

I thought it appropriate, given the statements made by the president-elect in various media, and the influence of fake news sites on the current politics of our nation.

In attempting to promote “my” new word, I had another idea to describe the current political landscape, given the political appointments by the president-elect. This one already existed:

kakistocracy = government by the worst

In response, Russ Heller came up with the perfect word, far better than any of my attempts. In his words:

The Greek prefix “Chryso-“: Forming compound words pertaining to gold or, by extension, gold-like colours. Specifically, chrysophobia is the fear of the color orange. Chrysocracy means government by the rich, and also government by the orange.

We’ll have to live through it. At least we now know what to call it.

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