Stephen Colbert had two segments that explained clearly how the US Supreme Court decision last week in McCutcheon v. FEC has pushed the US further along the road to where just a handful of people will be able to purchase the government. This ruling said that while a contributor was still limited to donating $5,200 to individual candidates, there should be no limit to the total amount they can give to all candidates in an election cycle, which used to be $123,200 before this ruling. Only about 600 people bumped up against this cap in the past.
I am not as exercised over this ruling as others since big money has always found ways to buy politicians. This has just made it more open. It is only a matter of a couple of years before this Supreme Court will rule that even restrictions on donations to individual candidates are illegal. Who knows, we may then be able to do away with primaries and even elections and candidates for office can go around with clothes having the logos of their sponsors, like NASCAR drivers, and the person who lines up the most money is declared the winner.
(These clips aired on April 3, 2014. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post. If the videos autoplay, please see here for a diagnosis and possible solutions.)
the person who lines up the most money is declared the winner.
That won’t happen, and here’s why: because the people who are doing that have learned that cheating gets you ahead. Well, indeed, so it does. But once they’ve cheated all the rubes out of power and the people are disenfranchised, they’ll have nobody left to turn on but eachother.
That’s the problem with totalitarianism, which totalitarians generally don’t understand until too late. They always believe the Stalin in their ranks who nods, and acts like a team player, while planning to purge them. Ask Lenin. Ask Trotsky. These fucking fools who are aggregating the reins of power for the US to an increasingly small point, all imagine that once that process is fully complete, they’ll magically be the ones to grab them. Ask Sejanus. Ask Marius. Ask the Graccae. It doesn’t work that way. But totalitarians are built to believe in themselves so they are unhindered by the self-doubt that keeps the rest of us in check.
Or we’d kill them.
All will, under pain of poverty and/or death, bow down to the almighty dollar.
Good morning Marcus,
That’s true. You’re absolutely right.
Since I’m one of the ants at the picnic, however, I’m not happy knowing that the food fest is about to turn ugly and I’m most likely in for a stomping as a result.
Do all you can to make today a good day,
Jeff
Have Coffee Will Write
Howard Tayler’s excellent science fiction webcomic Schlock Mercenary has this excellent quote (from today’s comic, BTW):
link here:-
Schlock Mercenary