Doomed to repeat it …
Looking back at the warning signs of history and reflecting on the implications for our future.
“ Representative Democracy”
The Official Definition:
noun. A system of government where elected officials represent the interests of the people who voted for them, ensuring that every voice is heard and every vote counts.
The Real Definition:
noun. A system where your Senator returns your phone call right after he finishes his call with the guy who just wrote him a check for $500,000.
The Breakdown:
There’s a joke going around Washington, and it goes like this:
“How can you tell the difference between a Congressman and a prostitute?”
Answer: The prostitute has to give the money back if she doesn’t perform.
But here’s the thing, it’s not a joke anymore. It’s a business model.
Let’s be very clear about something: The United States Government is not broken. It is working exactly as designed. The problem is that YOU are not the customer. You are the product.
The strongest nation on Earth, the country that put a man on the moon, built the Interstate Highway System, and won two World Wars, has spent the last decade or more converting itself into a vending machine. You put money in the slot. Legislation comes out. It’s that simple. Alternatively, you can buy a president and do everything by executive order.
They don’t even hide it anymore.
The Supreme Court said so. In 2010, they ruled that money is speech. Not metaphorically. Literally. Your $50 donation to a candidate? That’s you whispering. A corporation’s $50 million donation to a Super PAC? That’s a bullhorn strapped to a rocket ship.
When you wonder why your Senator doesn’t return your email about prescription drug prices, but Big Pharma gets a private meeting and a handshake? It’s because they speak louder than you. With money. Which is speech. Which means your Senator isn’t ignoring you, he just can’t hear you over the sound of all that cash screaming in his ear.
Here’s how the auction works:
The Price List
Want to block a banking regulation? That’ll cost you about $2 million in campaign contributions spread across the right committees.
Want to slip a tax loophole into a 3,000-page bill that nobody reads? Call it $5 million, and we’ll make sure it’s buried on page 2,847 between a clause about migratory birds and a fund for rural sewage treatment.
Want to kill an investigation into your business practices? That’s premium pricing. Figure $10 million, plus you’ll need to hire the former head of the agency as a “consultant.” He’ll make some calls.
The Revolving Door
It’s now an art form! The guy who writes the regulations for the banking industry today? In two years, he’ll be working FOR the banking industry making ten times his government salary. And the guy who lobbies AGAINST the regulations today? In two years, HE’LL be writing them.
They call it the “Revolving Door.” It’s more like a merry-go-round. Everyone gets dizzy, nobody falls off, and the only people who get sick are the ones watching from outside the ride.
The Legislation Laundromat
A corporation can’t just hand a Congressman a bag of cash and say, “Make it rain.” That would be bribery. Instead, they donate to his campaign fund, his Super PAC, his think tank, and his nephew’s “charity.” They hire his former chief of staff as a lobbyist. They buy a table at his fundraising dinner. They sponsor his golf tournament.
And once you have access, you can write the actual legislation yourself. Literally. Hand it to them on a thumb drive. “Here, Congressman, we wrote this bill for you. We even left a blank space where you can add your name to make it look like you did some work.”
And he’ll introduce it. Because at the end of the day, writing laws is hard. But cashing checks? That’s easy.
The Distraction
Meanwhile, they keep you busy arguing about bathrooms, pronouns, and whether the guy kneeling during the anthem is “disrespecting the troops.” They’ve got you fighting with your neighbor about Dr. Seuss while they’re upstairs auctioning off the country piece by piece.
Left vs. Right. Red vs. Blue. It’s a puppet show. And while you’re booing the villain and cheering the hero, nobody’s watching the guy with his hand up the puppet’s ass making them both dance. It’s always about the money!
The Bottom Line:
You cannot compete in this auction. You don’t have enough money. Even if every person reading this pooled their savings, you still couldn’t buy a County Commissioner, much less a Senator.
The system isn’t rigged. Rigged implies it’s broken. It’s designed this way. It’s a feature, not a bug.
And here’s the beautiful con: They still let you vote. You still get to pull that lever every two years and feel like you’re part of the process. You’re not. You’re the applause track on a game show where the prizes were already divided up before the cameras turned on.
So the next time someone asks you, “How did we get here? How did the strongest nation on Earth end up with a government that serves billionaires instead of citizens?”
The answer is simple: They bought it. We sold it. And now we’re renting it back at interest.
The auction is over. The gavel came down. And you weren’t even in the room.
Vote?