[Karunamon]

That's appropriately cynical for HN, but this Gilens & Page study is a classic case of lying with statistics, at least when it comes to the conclusion.

And like most statistics, they can be read to support almost any conclusion you want. A deeper dive on that study shows that it's not really that simple, or that distressing: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11502464/gilens-page-oligarchy-...

Important quote:

America is an imperfect democracy, in other words — but it's hardly an oligarchy. When the rich and middle class disagree, each wins about half the time.

[kelseyfrog]

Even that important quote is misrepresentative.

It's like saying that "Half the time I win and half the time everyone else loses, so it's fair." Which isn't really fair at all considering the size of the groups[1]

1. 1 vs Rest in the extreme example. n=|people who are rich| vs m=|people who are not rich| in the context we're considering.

[JumpCrisscross]

They also presented their study as “tentative and preliminary.”