The oil, coal, and gas industries are now effectively running all branches of government.

The brave few who stood up to the magnates of the Gilded Age came to mind this month, when Ann Telnaes, a Washington Post cartoonist, resigned over the paper’s refusal to publish a cartoon in which she skewered today’s titans of industry—­Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Post, among them.

When an authoritarian regime takes over, NGOs, advocacy nonprofits, and activist organizations face significant threats.