March 14, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Voting Against Economic Interests: Believing The One Percent Has Your Back
Let’s face it, the corrupting influence of money has infested both political parties. The Republican Party is the most unabashed when it comes to corporate influence and greed but both parties are in the same marathon. Republicans are leading a race where nobody will be a winner, well, except for the one percent. What I can’t understand is why so many voters continue to believe the nonsense these politicians dispense.
The wealth of the average member of congress has gone up dramatically over the past three decades while the wealth of the average American has, at best, stayed the same. Much of congress is now part of the one percent. How are they supposed to represent the interests of the rest of the country? You’ve probably heard people talk about a “conservative bubble”, well I say there is also a “wealth bubble”. There are tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of wealthy people in this country that have no clue how bad things are in this country for tens of millions. I’m solidly middle-class and I feel like I don’t have a good sense of the plight of the 40+ million in poverty, so how do people making $250k, 500k (or much more) have any sense of the suffering going on each day?
Those who are low-income and in poverty don’t get off the hook because many in this group continue to vote for the same corrupt politicians. They vote for politicians who have crafted tax breaks and legislation to help a narrow segment of the country – the wealthy, or sometimes called the “productive class” by people who have no shame.
Maybe it’s because we aspire for a better tomorrow that we allow this corruption of our democracy to continue. Maybe we think we will be there some day. It seems no matter where we find ourselves on the success ladder we believe there is always room to climb. But does everyone really think they could be part of the one percent one day? I’m not trying to kill people’s dreams, but shouldn’t we vote on our current reality instead? Afterall, if you keep voting against your own economic interests now, doesn’t that make it more difficult to make that dream a reality in the future?
dks
