2020 Has Put Corruption on Full Display, Is There Anything We Can Do?
2020 has been a crazy year for everyone from the COVID-19 pandemic to the protests and violent outbreaks over George Floyd’s death. As many have said, we have experienced 10 years of change in 10 weeks. While this statement can apply to many topics there is one topic, in particular, I’m quite excited and hopeful about: The exposure of corruption in our government. Most people in the U.S. know our government is corrupt and ineffective, even before the coronavirus pandemic it was a common casually mentioned conversation topic by most people. Those who hadn’t seemed to catch on seemed to be the ones very caught up in government and what cable news was talking about day-to-day. However, with the epic failings of our national legislature to respond to not just one but to two crises in such a short period of time more heads have been turned. Why is it that in the greatest health and economic crisis that anyone alive has experienced our representatives have chosen to bail out the corporations, and themselves, who probably didn’t even need it and have chosen to leave the majority of the population to fend for themselves? The answer is simple: corruption, but the solutions may not be so simple.
Essentially what this means is that any corporation wanting to influence politics needs only to donate to the election efforts of a candidate and expect favors in return such as voting certain ways or ignoring certain issues.
What is it that we mean when we say our government officials are corrupted exactly? Is it that the big oil and pharmaceutical companies are coming into their offices straight-up telling them they’ll give them millions of dollars to vote a certain way or to ignore certain issues? Not exactly, for this would be illegal but they might as well be. If you haven’t heard of Citizens United this is pretty much all you need to know about how corruption works in America. In Citizens United, the US Supreme Court ruled campaign finance contributions by corporations, unions, or pretty much any association of citizens should be allowed and should have no cap. Essentially what this means is that any corporation wanting to influence politics needs only to donate to the election efforts of a candidate and expect favors in return such as voting certain ways or ignoring certain issues. You may ask, how is this different than just giving them the money and making a quid-pro-quo? Well, in reality, it isn’t and that’s the point. What the decision on Citizens United allowed was essentially for corporations and lobbyists to be able to request political favors without actually having to say so. Aside from Citizens United though there are more subtle but well-known methods of politicians profiting off of getting elected. For instance, politicians know that if they go easy on corporations and industries while in office they will be able to land a high-paid position WITHIN those industries they were supposed to be regulating after they get out of office. With just these two modes of operation in D.C., the entire hope of actual representation of the nation’s citizens has been thrown out the window.
Because so many of our politicians are corrupted there has been a slow corrosion of true democracy in our nation over the last 4–5 decades and even worse in the last decade alone because of the Citizens United ruling. Once the democrats switched from being the party of the people to being the second party of the corporations, everything started going downhill. However, with the same people who have sway over the politicians also having control over cable-news and nationwide newspapers and websites this fact was well hidden. This isn’t to say that those who have really been paying attention haven’t known this for a long time but when the majority of the population doesn’t realize a problem exists in a democratic country there is no hope for change. Slowly as more and more people have watched our congress and presidents fail us election after election the narrative became about the ineffectiveness of our government and their inability to work together. While on the face of it this may be true there is something much deeper going on. The news and both parties would love to have everyone think that the other side is the enemy and that every story boils down to whose team won or whose team is the bad guy, after all, it’s great for ratings and keeps people away from the real motivations of our representatives. 2020 may have changed this in a big way though, that is if those who realize capitalize on the moment.
We watched as across the country citizens came out to the streets to protest and to express their distrust in our institutions and to hold on to the hope they still have that if we ask peacefully maybe, just maybe, our government will listen. And now we watch as they show that they aren’t.
The actions of our government choosing to bail out large industries and corporations isn’t a new thing in a time of economic crisis. Just 12 years ago in 2008 during the housing crash, the American population watched as the government bailed out the banks and as no one responsible for the greatest economic crash since the Great Depression was held truly accountable. This was a monumental moment for the destruction of trust in the government by the people but because this was such a monumental moment it meant, by nature, that not everyone was paying attention yet. This is where 2020 gets its spotlight. Because the atrocious actions of our government in a time of crisis were so fresh on the minds of the people the same behavior has become much more apparent to more this time around. Additionally, not only are we in an economic crisis but a health crisis where if people don’t stay home and neglect their earnings they may die or risk those close to them dying yet our congress did the very least they could to help. Then in the middle of all of this, we watched the country mourn and become outraged over yet another brutal murder by a police officer. We watched as across the country citizens came out to the streets to protest and to express their distrust in our institutions and to hold on to the hope they still have that if we ask peacefully maybe, just maybe, our government will listen. And now we watch as they show that they aren’t. We watch as the Democrats virtue signal by painting a mural but go back inside and support increasing police funding as somehow an apt response to the obvious problem that exists in the already overfunded institution that is the police.
We are witnessing one of the most horrific moments in our modern history of the government ignoring the people and focusing on their own interests. There are only two responses to this kind of behavior by those who hold the power. The first and most instinctual response by many is to just burn it all to the ground. The view that it’s just trash and that hope may be lost. The other, the path chosen by the peaceful protesters, is to hold out hope and to work within the system. We have a unique opportunity right now. We have the chance to seize the moment of outrage, distrust, and unhappiness with the way things are. While many of us have been fighting and have seen these problems for a while and have been let down over and over this moment is a chance. Humans are emotional creatures. In a time where so much is going on, where the corruption and unwillingness of our government to do anything to help the people is so obvious we have the opportunity to ride this wave to true change. This is the opportunity to spread the word of the problems but also of the solutions. While everything may seem dark right now that lends to the chance to bring the most light we’ve seen in decades.
..we need to remind them that if they choose this path they choose to be public servants, not corporate ones. We live in a democracy which means everyone gets an equal say but right now we’ve been letting those at the top have a greater say and until we fix the system and reject the arranged and served choices we have conceded the power of our vote.
Right now we need to push the movement for democratic reform. Right now we need to push for support of STAR voting or Ranked Choice Voting across the nation. Right now we need to push for term limits for our representatives, we need to push for Democracy Vouchers across the nation as is being done in Seattle right now, we need to push for the re-emergence of local and independent journalism by supporting funding efforts, we need to push for laws making it illegal for representatives to take high-paying positions in industries they were supposed to be regulating. These are the ways we can show the established powers in D.C. who still holds the power, we need to remind them that if they choose this path they choose to be public servants, not corporate ones. We live in a democracy which means everyone gets an equal say but right now we’ve been letting those at the top have a greater say and until we fix the system and reject the arranged and served choices we have conceded the power of our vote.
