Squattocracy

Okay kiddo, have you ever heard of squattocracy? It's a big word that means something like "a group of people who became wealthy and powerful by claiming and using land that didn't belong to them."

Let's imagine that you and I are playing on a big field, and we're having fun running around and playing games. But then, some other kids come along and start building things on the field – like big houses and factories and stores – and they don't ask us if it's okay or if we want to play too. They just take over the field and make it their own.

That's kind of what happened long ago in some places, like in Australia. There were a bunch of people who came from far away and took over the land that belonged to Aboriginal people, who had lived there for thousands of years before. These new people were often called squatters because they just set up camp on the land and claimed it as their own, without really asking if it was okay or if they had the right to do so.

Over time, these squatters became really rich and powerful. They made laws and rules that protected their land and their wealth, and they didn't really care about the Aboriginal people who had been living there before. They became known as the squattocracy – a group of people who controlled big parts of the land, and who made sure they stayed in charge.

So think about it like this: imagine we're playing with some toys, and someone comes along and takes them away, saying they're theirs now. And then they tell us we can't play with them anymore, and they keep getting more toys and more power while we're left with nothing. That's kind of what the squattocracy did, and it's not a nice thing to do.