Thursday, November 24, 2011

Hip-Hop Legend Russell Simmons, Member of the 1%, on Why He Supports the...


Two months ago, legendary hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons was one of the first high-profile public supporters to come to the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. On Thursday's day of action, he was there again to speak to Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. "We don't want Wall Street to control our future, and that's why we're on Wall Street. And what we'd like is for the people to control their future," Simmons said, describing the constitutional amendment he is supporting that would ban private donations for U.S. politicians running for federal office. – HuffingtonPost
Dominant Social Theme: If we get the money out of politics, then politics will work for the people.
Free-Market Analysis: Russell Simmons has announced he is in favor of a US constitutional amendment that will "get the money out of politics." In fact, from our perspective, he's giving voice to a kind of elite dominant social theme: That the "fundamental flaw" in American democracy can be rectified by a redirection in funding.
The trouble with this analysis, in our view, is that MONEY will always be part of politics. It is the "mother's milk" of politics, in fact. That means if "people" can't donate to whom they want, then someone else shall take over this job. That someone else would probably be the state.

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