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With the context of what wealth inequality is doing to society and what political power raw money brings to people, I posit there is a line where it is wrong.
by unethical_ban 4y ago
With the context of what wealth inequality is doing to society and what political power raw money brings to people, I posit there is a line where it is wrong.
- missedthecue 4y agoBezos is probably the most unpopular person in Washington. We don't have a president Bloomberg. I submit to you that you are vastly overestimating the amount of political power having money automatically brings someone.
- ihumanable 4y agoPower and office are two different things. Someone can exercise a great deal of power in advancing or killing legislation while never holding office and allowing all the office holders to call them names on TV. What matters is what policies are enacted. Here's a nice video on the topic that summarizes a Princeton study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig
- samhw 4y agoPowerful people have long weaponised self-deprecation as a means of letting off steam and blunting more serious attacks. (That theme is elaborated very well in the LRB here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n14/jonathan-coe/sinking-giggling-into-the-sea https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n14/jonathan-coe/sinking....) Michael Bloomberg is actually a great example, in how his campaign relied so heavily on irony and self-deprecation to defuse the (anticipated) discomfort around electing an old white billionaire.
- daenz 4y agoIf 1 million people want to give 1 person 10 dollars, and your response is "we should control how those 1 million spend their 10 dollars", and not "we should prevent politicians from selling their influence", then you're hurting the people you want to help.