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The change you want is political campaign finance reform. Everything else is secondary. Without financing reform, the accumulation of wealth leads to political
by losteric 9y ago
The change you want is political campaign finance reform. Everything else is secondary.
Without financing reform, the accumulation of wealth leads to political influence that furthers the accumulation of money and political power... creating laws that constrain the market to favor the big players over free innovation and competition.
Google/FB are not alone... broadcasting, fossil fuel, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cell network, retail chains, financial corporations, individual citizens are by far the least significant voice in our elections.
- aaron-lebo 9y agoJust to add to this, by 2008, having Google's clout meant significant access to the president, which is really impressive for a company that was less than a decade old. https://www.googletransparencyproject.org/articles/eric-schmidt-obamas-chief-corporate-ally https://www.googletransparencyproject.org/articles/eric-schm...
- bit48 9y agoFinance reform is a step in the right direction, but it is no magic bullet. The wealthy will just find other, less direct, ways of buying influence.
- maxxxxx 9y agoI would argue that Google and Facebook are more dangerous than other industries. With the information they have I think you could run a very efficient dictatorship.
- wmil 9y agoCampaign finance changes can't do what you think they can. Political influence just flows naturally from immense wealth. Canada has a complete ban on corporate donations. So whenever Bombardier wants something they just add on "or else we'll have to cut thousands of jobs" and they get it. You can even argue it's a better deal for large corporations. They get to keep their influence but never get shaken down for donations.