Corruption and good intentions are not mutually exclusive.

[Tom Rinaldo]

Last edited Fri Feb 14, 2020, 10:44 AM - Edit history (1)

The concentration of money into fewer and fewer hands directly corrupts politics in a Democracy. We all know this people. This is a bedrock principle. Think the Koch Brothers who bought State Legislatures all across the nation. Think Sheldon Adelson who personally dictated U.S. policy toward Israel. And when a political leader gets to redirect public tax payer funds to bribe potential adversaries to instead become his allies, that is the exact same corruption, just flowing via a different route. Think Chris Christie lining up support from elected Democrats all across New Jersey prior to his reelecton campaign for Governor. The power of the purse corrupted is just as toxic to democracy as is vast personal wealth.

Fathomless wealth is the black hole of politics, with a corrupting gravitational field that sucks in those who come into close proximity with it. Sometimes it is blatant, sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes those who fall into that hole know full well that they have sold their soul in the bargain. Other times they take comfort in any one of dozens of rationalizations offered to them, ranging from "this is probably what I would have ended up backing anyway, but I can be so much more effective now with access to these funds" to "what real choice do I have anyway? With so much money in play the outcome is predetermined, might as well be part of the winning team to be able to retain some influence."

And the thing is that the vast concentration of wealth controlled by any individual employed toward a political end is corrosive to the institutions of democracy no matter how benign the intentions of the person who controls it might be. And yes, I am talking about Mike Bloomberg. Yes I am: The Republican Mayor who distributed large sums of money far and wide to noble causes backed by Democrats throughout NYC, on the eve of his seeking a change in the City Charter that would allow him to run for a third term in office that otherwise would have been prohibited. If I were, for example, the Mayor of any city big or small in America tasked to deal with daunting inner city issues, I would like to pop up on Mike Bloomberg's personal map. I would like to win his positive attention, if I could figure out some way to do so. Just sayin'.

[Blues Heron]

1. Excellent - totally agree

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. It's so obvious that many people think it doesn't need to be restated, or even looked at freshly

But corruption and good intentions are not mutually exclusive.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. On reflection I changed this OP's subject title from

"The concentration of money into fewer and fewer hands directly corrupts politics in a Democracy" to what it is now. Simply stating the obvious does not exactly elicit interest,

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. Bump cause influence buying, even with the best intentions, needs to be addressed

It's not just the ability to self fund a campaign at levels that drown out other messages.