4 ms·

Can't you "just" vote for other politicians that aren't susceptible to be paid off by big pharma?

mandmandam 3y ago
Ah; username. In case you're not kidding though, no. A politician who pisses off big business in America loses even the support of their own party. The media ignores them, smears them, then grinds them into dust to make an example of them. Their social media pages are de-ranked, and an army of bots highlights their weak points while attacking their strong points. Their opponents in every election get funded just enough to win, however much that is; even elections against others in their own party. And if they're still somehow successful after all that, there's other, darker things that can happen.
ekianjo 3y ago
The politicians you get to vote for are propelled there by their connections iwth big businesses. The corruption is complete and voters play no role in policy change
mcherm 3y ago
No, you cannot because they are not on the ballot. They are not on the ballot because successfully getting attention when running for office requires huge amounts of money.
- NickC25 3y ago
  It's even more depressing than that. Those who are on ballots are there because they've gotten Corporate America's stamp of approval. The ones who don't have said approval never make it on the ballots, and in the extremely infrequent case that they do (see Bernie Sanders) , they are there so corporate friendly politicians and media outlets can mock them as a subtle reminder to the rest of the country that the corporations own the country and it's not worth stepping out of line.
arp242 3y ago
The thing is that more often than not, that's not really how it works. While outright bribery does happen ("we may have a job opening after your term that you might be suitable for wink wink, nudge nudge") this is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the power from these organisations is just from having politicians attention and ears: if you constant hear viewpoint A from people you like and respect and rarely or never hear opposing viewpoints, then, well, don't be surprised if politicians lean towards viewpoint A. This is basically what "lobbying" is. The problem is that talking to democratically elected representatives is a basic right, and not something you can (or, IMHO, should) take away. What we do need is better representation of the public interest and balance things better, somehow...

Ah; username. In case you're not kidding though, no. A politician who pisses off big business in America loses even the support of their own party. The media ignores them, smears them, then grinds them into dust to make an example of them. Their social media pages are de-ranked, and an army of bots highlights their weak points while attacking their strong points. Their opponents in every election get funded just enough to win, however much that is; even elections against others in their own party. And if they're still somehow successful after all that, there's other, darker things that can happen.

ekianjo 3y ago

The politicians you get to vote for are propelled there by their connections iwth big businesses. The corruption is complete and voters play no role in policy change

mcherm 3y ago

No, you cannot because they are not on the ballot. They are not on the ballot because successfully getting attention when running for office requires huge amounts of money.

NickC25 3y ago
It's even more depressing than that. Those who are on ballots are there because they've gotten Corporate America's stamp of approval. The ones who don't have said approval never make it on the ballots, and in the extremely infrequent case that they do (see Bernie Sanders) , they are there so corporate friendly politicians and media outlets can mock them as a subtle reminder to the rest of the country that the corporations own the country and it's not worth stepping out of line.

arp242 3y ago

The thing is that more often than not, that's not really how it works. While outright bribery does happen ("we may have a job opening after your term that you might be suitable for wink wink, nudge nudge") this is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the power from these organisations is just from having politicians attention and ears: if you constant hear viewpoint A from people you like and respect and rarely or never hear opposing viewpoints, then, well, don't be surprised if politicians lean towards viewpoint A. This is basically what "lobbying" is. The problem is that talking to democratically elected representatives is a basic right, and not something you can (or, IMHO, should) take away. What we do need is better representation of the public interest and balance things better, somehow...