we cannot allow massive wealth if we also want democracy

[welshTerrier2]

if you walk up to someone on the street and ask them if they think the government should have the right to limit how much wealth one could obtain through "legal" means, they would say "no" ...

but if you asked whether they believed that the super-wealthy exert a disproportionate and inappropriate influence on our government, they would say "yes" ...

these two views are incompatible ...

we temper great wealth in a variety of ways ... we have a progressive tax system (sort of?) ... we have laws against monopolies (sort of?) ...we regulate commerce to uphold certain societal needs such as product safety, worker safety, environmental safety (sort of?) ... so in some way, there is at least some recognition paid to the idea that maximizing profits is not the most important societal objective ...

but the problem is, at its root, our government itself and our process of electing government officials is corrupted by "special interests" ... liberals seek to address this problem with bandaid solutions ... many of these "solutions" are good ideas but they have been 100% ineffective in preserving our democracy ... "money will out" ... big money = big power = big corruption = loss of democracy ...

efforts of campaign finance reform have been easily circumvented ... efforts of lobby reform have been pathetic ... our government is owned lock, stock and barrel by powerful corporate interests and the big money shareholders hidden behind them ... the entire "rebuild New Orleans" group is comprised of corporate lobbyists ... look at the no-bid contracts given to Halliburton in New Orleans and in Iraq ... the truth is, our entire foreign policy for many decades has done nothing but cater to the interests of big oil ... as a nation, we are in debt up to our eyeballs, we are at war, we are at great risk ... and all this while big oil experiences record profits in the tens of billions ...

one thing is certain ... if we continue to allow the great powers of our country to be driven by those who seek profits for themselves rather than policies designed to serve the best interests of the country, America will not be a very pleasant place to live for much longer ... if we fail to rid our government from the corrupting influences of massive wealth and power, we will soon see a precipitous decline of a once great America ... legislative "tweaking" has not corralled corporate corruption or the infestation of big money into our democratic institutions ... it is time to put limits on massive wealth; there is no alternative ...

it is time for a new American revolution that restricts the abuses of the aristocracy by limiting their wealth and power ... let's hope this revolution can be accomplished without bloodshed and violence ...

the following is an excerpt from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1826 (read on the Thom Hartmann show today):

source: http://yamaguchy.netfirms.com/jefferson/giles.html

But this opens with a vast accession of strength from their younger recruits, who, having nothing in them of the feelings or principles of ’76, now look to a single and splendid government of an aristocracy, founded on banking institutions, and moneyed incorporations under the guise and cloak of their favored branches of manufactures, commerce and navigation, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry. This will be to them a next best blessing to the monarchy of their first aim, and perhaps the surest stepping-stone to it.