I just finished reading the book "human universals" which mentions that we're neither in a full democracy nor a full autocracy, so we're in a de facto oligarchy

I just finished reading the book "human universals" which mentions that we're neither in a full democracy nor a full autocracy, so we're in a de facto oligarchy. So where as I've often sneered at Russia for it's oligarchs we clearly have the same issue. Perhaps the Western oligarchs have earned their money more transparently, but they're still oligarchs. Also one of the human universals is that we admire generosity in leaders, so these grandiose gifts are what oligarchs love.