Perhaps the last Installment on “Supercapitalism”, by Robert Reich. If I missed some key point of the book, please advise and I’ll post again.
The issue is money and influence. Power to move power. It’s as old as governments are in ancient civilizations and as American as apple pie. The difference in the transforming Information Era economy is how much money there is to influence politics and who has access to vast sums of money.
Sidebar: (I didn’t think that big money could matter that much in the very short election season following Rep. Jo Ann Davis’s untimely death last year. Old party horse that I am, I was shocked still to find out how much money could be spent in the 3 weeks I was a politician running for her seat – and how much huge money meant to key activists.)
Consider the problem of scale – big money. The money won’t go away. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol would be more effective (and we know how that worked) than every foolish attempt to ban money from politics. Money can’t be separated from power anymore than sex can be taken out of prostitution.
Consider the problem of concentration of power – who has the money. It can be very wealthy persons, corporations, unions, or advocacy groups (ostensibly yet laughably ‘non-profit’). If it is impossible to prevent them from using their accumulated wealth, then perhaps the remedy is to redistribute the resources they are willing to spend to buy power. Tax every contribution, fund-raising events themselves, services and the assets of every registered lobbying organization. Tax like a Democrat with a grudge.
If you tax at a high rate you increase the opportunity cost to pay to play for power. The government can use those taxes for more audit capabilities to the point of diminishing returns. Perhaps, the rest of the taxes could be put into a pot for a vox populi – to pay for public access multi-media. The rules for access, obviously, will open and close doors for participation in the political process.
As long as humans remain human, buying influence will be part of politics. The real issue is how legislation and moral suasion shape “who gets what” – which is Lasswell’s classic definition of ‘politics.’
Begin with electing Virginians to Congress who will repeal the worst and most odious election laws. Then, push towards openness, freedom and accountability in the pursuit of paying for power. Consider the taxing and redistribution of the resources spent on influence.
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