I really had a bit of a melt down over the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court which basically called the money in corporate bank accounts free speech. The idea that an artificial entity, created by the state, could not then be regulated by the state was mystifying to me. There is an inherent illogical foundation in this that I just can't get past. What's even more confusing is how on earth MONEY can now be considered protected speech.
Democracy is the idea that all people are created equal and that the massive power of government must be shared by everyone on a level playing field (one vote each). Currency is something created by the government which, by it's very nature, allows people to be unequal. The government cannot abridge the freedom of speech but by creating money and then protecting it as free speech they ARE effectively abridging the speech of people who do not have money.
You cannot buy someone's vote directly but for some reason you can still buy the ability to drown out all the other voices asking for their vote.
This is a mystery to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment