The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed corporations. – Thomas Jefferson
Have you checked the funding sources for your favorite candidate recently? A week or two ago, I was at a Pride event in a nearby town, and a local candidate had staff and volunteers running around in T-shirts that proudly proclaimed no corporate sponsors. To me, this meant that he probably didn’t need to check with the home office for permission to back a specific policy. Or do a flip-flop on backing something because he got a call from on high…and I don’t mean heaven. The recent collusion in politics of moneyed interests reminded me of the Jefferson quote, and how corporate, political action groups, and others flood even relatively local politics with money for ads, events, literature, and more.
How can you reasonably expect a candidate to reach an independent position, be flexible, or adhere to principles when they are beholden to moneyed interests? If you do, I happen to have a family property in lower Manhattan, which has been in the family for years. It’s a bridge, and for you, I can offer such a deal for it! Every day, thousands rely on it to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn!
How does this relate to the prompt? Well, without bloodshed, you can subvert a democracy by playing with people’s minds, suggesting, hinting, leading on, and corrupting. It’s soooo much neater than some brutal power grab with troops! Palpatine and Vader? Get a life. Evil cloaks itself in respectability, patriotism, and the American Way. Who needs a lightsaber?
So, with the midterms coming I am making a list, and checking it twice to see which candidates I might be voting for are beholden, not to me, but to other masters.
You know what? the party affiliation may mean less than who has bought your favorite candidate.
Discover more from Louis N. Carreras, Woodcarver
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Post the results of your research, Lou. I was thinking about Little League Teams wearing the shirts of their sponsors. It’s endemic to our society…
After reading the quote, I thought of Flock Cameras, interestingly. I only heard about them for the first time two weeks ago. Then, while visiting my brother, he brought them up too. Supposedly “for our safety,” the Flock company is selling these cameras to cities across America to help “find criminals.” I am convinced wholeheartedly that it is to track our activity in order to make money off us somehow. I am zero percent convinced it will be used to make our communities safer.
The cameras ID cars by logging the license plate, car features, and extras on the car like a bike rack or bumper dents, to figure out who is driving past, then store that information in their data bases. The cameras are deployed in the hundreds, so together they can keep track of where you go, and how often. No warrant needed. Now, don’t you feel more safe?
I’ve read some about those. I’ve heard that in some locales, there are movements to either get rid of them or make the company respect privacy rights. I was looking for cameras not too long ago and was interested in ones that did not share data to the web. Just local storage and wifi. Sometimes in our pursuit of security, we can over-purchase.
We have access to so much more information about candidates now- I wonder how this is going to change campaign strategies in the future…..
Responsibly? Maybe that would be hoping too much!