Kleptocracy

There is a phenomenon that most of us will have at least heard about and probably experienced. We hear a word for the first time or hear a person’s name for the first time, and within 24 to 48 hours we hear the word or about the person again. Sometimes we even inquire after an old acquaintance only to have someone mention them or have them call soon after. Anyway ~ that phenomenon is out there and part of our lives occasionally.

Last week I was doing a Friday, New York Times Crossword. My book contains puzzles from 6 days of the week. Mondays I do; Tuesdays I do; Wednesdays I do ~ sometimes missing only one or two letters; Thursdays I sometimes need a little help; Fridays and Saturday I always needs help. Sometimes I feel like I just copy in the words of Saturdays ~ although here and there scattered throughout the books of a lifetime are Saturdays with a big check on top meaning I did it all by myself.

Anyway ~ doing a Friday, I came across a definition of a long word: Government marked by rampant greed and corruption. The word was “kleptocracy”. I got the “tocracy” part on my own. The rest needed some help. I figure it is from the same root as kleptomania. Fast forward a few days. I am reading a book called The Tudors by G. J. Meyer (having nothing to do with the mini-series by the same name). It is an historical narrative with lots of contextual background material. More about this later.

I come across this sentence: Dudley by now was himself an immensely wealthy landowner - that followed more or less automatically from political success in the Tudor kleptocracy - and so had much to lose. I knew instantly that I had heard the word recently and knew where to find the definition. The whole experience has grounded the word in my thinking although having never heard it for 68 years, I doubt I will have occasion to see or hear it again in the my next 68. It is a fascinating phenomenon though and one I enjoy when it happens.