Thursday, November 3, 2011

Is the 99% Movement the Modern Equivalent of Storming the Bastille

Here is a startling statistic, the candidate for office in America with the most money backing him or her wins 94% of the races. In other words money buys almost every election. This fact means they really aren't elections, they are auctions. Character doesn't matter, positions don't matter, honesty doesn't matter; what matters is who puts in the highest bid and raises the most money. Guess where that money comes from and why do you think that money is spent? Any wonder our country is so fucked up? At its core, that is an extremely disheartening statistic because it says something terrible about how a democracy can be corrupted if money is allowed into the election process. That 94% statistic proves that a gullible electorate can be led to any conclusion with enough slick advertising. The Citizens United case has made things even worse, allowing unlimited corporate spending to influence elections.
We are caught in a catch-22; in order to throw off the shackles we would have to elect large majorities in the House and Senate to pass a Constitutional amendment removing money influence in elections, but we can't even begin to elect those majorities since the moneyed interests can buy any number of representatives they chose. Our hope rests with the 99% uprising or if they fail with another outraged grassroot populist movement with even greater intensity. If the groundswell of outrage grows to enough people and the outrage is sufficiently intense, maybe we can overthrow the moneyed interests despite their attempts to buy our government. This is the only way I can see that the people of America can reclaim their democracy from the 1%. Storm the Bastille!