The invisible American

Officially, in the United States of America, the President, Senate, House, and Supreme Court determine the laws under which the rest of us live. And we little people get to vote them in or out periodically (except for the judges).

Unofficially, these office-holders typically only rubber-stamp what is handed to them from the wealthy financial backers of their election wins-- or that tiny group of people who sit on the most cash in America. And ignore everyone else, except to say popular catch phrases and make empty promises during campaign speeches.

But can we really blame our politicians for this? If we were in their shoes, and our fantastic cushy jobs and unbelievable healthcare benefits depended every few years on keeping a handful of rich backers happy, wouldn't many of us do the same? So check out this chart about who matters the most to American politicians. If you were a US Senator or Representative who needs $MILLIONS on a regular basis to keep their job, who would matter the most to YOU?

Under America's current campaign finance rules, it often doesn't even matter if your political candidate wins, because the vast majority of candidates are beholden to the rich who pay for their election campaigns. Beholden to those few lucky good people (or bad) who possess this mountain of cash, and so own most U.S. corporations (including U.S. mainstream media) as well. You literally cannot avoid seeing their viewpoints if you turn on your TV. But you'll almost never see your own-- unless they successfully convince you to adopt theirs.

And they have $billions for dazzling presentations and TV shows and entertaining TV personalities with which to drown you in propaganda until you finally swallow it, lock, stock, and barrel.

America may be the last modern western republic or democracy to allow a handful of the wealthy to run the government and the mainstream media this way. Other countries use higher taxes on the rich, public financing of elections and sometimes news media too, and/or other measures to avoid American style commercial corruption among their public officials.

It's the opposite of free speech: it's bought and paid for speech. For billionaires only.

The information in the chart above is based on a multitude of references to be found in:

The super-rich, the 'plain' rich, the 'poorest' rich ...and everyone else

How to get rich in America

The enormous hidden costs to society of 'right-wing' political governance

If you find any mistakes or errors in the information presented above, please email the author regarding them (and include your references). Thanks!