I have noticed that MOST of the political communications I get in my email inbox, or that come to me as text messages, or certainly any that I receive in my old-fashioned postal mailbox, are appeals for me to give money.
I live in California. That does not seem to deter political candidates from every other state in the union from thinking that an appeal to me, for money, has at least some good chance of getting an affirmative, money-laden response.
And then there is the guy pictured above! Shown is Duke Buchan III, a "Hedge-Fund Manager," and the founder and CEO of Hunter Global Investors. "Duke," as they call him, was profiled back in early July in The Wall Street Journal. The story, in the July 6 - July 7, 2024, edition of the paper, says that Buchan is a money-raiser extraordinaire. "Duke's magic is he coaxes out multiples of what you intended to contribute." For instance, Buchan apparently raised $50.5 million for Donald Trump during one evening.
Another article in the same edition of The Journal reported that the family of Sam Bankman-Fried were deeply engaged with their son in political fundraising (click the link if you don't remember who he is). The son is currently serving a 25-year sentence for fraudulent activities related to cryptocurrency. The article I have linked above seems to intimate that Bankman-Fried's father, and maybe even his mother, both of whom are, or were, faculty members at Stanford Law School, could also be facing some prison time.
At any rate, here's my point: It is received wisdom that "money is the Mother's Milk of politics." California politician Jesse Unruh is credited with first drawing the equivalency. And let's be honest, anyone who runs for political office, from presidential candidates to those aspiring to become a County Supervisor, must raise money if they hope that their campaign can be successful. I know! I did it myself, though I am happy that Santa Cruz County has imposed rather stringent campaign contribution limits, intended to discourage the idea that "politics" and "money" are, in fact, equivalent.
It is that postulated "equivalency" that I am trying to highlight with this blog post. Once we all start believing that "politics" is, essentially, equivalent to raising money (as opposed, for instance, to mobilizing people to achieve a particular policy objective), ordinary people will find themselves in a massively disadvantageous position.
If "MONEY" = "POLITICS," then that good old "Golden Rule" applies: Those with the gold get to rule!
Isn't that, in fact, exactly where we are, today? Right back there with Duke Buchan III?
If that is where we are, then we need to find other "political" activities, other than asking for and receiving money, to serve as the foundation of our "political" efforts and engagements.
If politics, today, seems "rotten," uninspiring, and repellant, making "politics" equivalent to raising money is one of the main reasons why.
But what beats money, you might ask?
Well, TIME can beat money, which means that our personal involvement in "politics," our personal and "organized" political involvement, at every level, is what we need to mobilize. Those interested in pursuing this kind of politics can click on this link, to visit an earlier blog posting that will connect you up with some resources that will help you do just that.
To recap my message for today: We need to implement activities that are based on this equation: "TIME" = "POLITICS."
Unless we're willing to give up on "self-government," that is.
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