>First of all, just because you have more money does not necessarily mean you will have more influence. Even if I had a billion dollars to spend on public service ads, there is no way I can convince anyone to eat razor blades for breakfast. That's an extreme example, but one which should illustrate how the quality of the message itself still matters more than how many people you can reach.
I just can't agree. I've been hanging with 9-10-11 figure types a lot lately, and it's amazing to me how many of them have photos of themselves with Presidents, VPs, and how many sit down to dinner with U.S. world leaders on a regular basis. They don't have more influence than you and I do?
And the razor blade example is completely absurd. A well-orchestrated, often-repeated message can get people to do and believe an awful lot of things.
>Secondly, the traditional means for the poor to take on the rich is to band together, pool their resources, and present a united front. That in itself should be more than sufficient to level the playing field.
There used to be a mechanism for that. We called them, um, "unions." But the rich have, in most cases, overpowered the unions and made them irrelevant since the days of Reagan.
>And third, we have more means of communication and networking than any other time in the history of humanity, especially with the Internet. The barriers to entry are low. That to me is the most level playing field I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, most people have been jaded to politics.
>Hence, I agree that no one really ought to give a f--- about how much money Soros pumps into 527s. It's his money, he is free to spend it on whatever socialistic crusade he believes in. Same thing applies to those funding the Swifties. Or the oh-so-non-partisan think tanks trying to influence public policy. As long as We The People are diligent enough to smell the B.S. and vote the bums out of office, democracy will take care of itself.
But the system is set up to keep us disinterested in nothing but the most superficial aspects.
I think you're totally wrong on this.
-Z |
