Are we really all that surprised that the slowly releasing Epstein files contains so many recognizeable names of politicians and millionaires and billionaires who all apparently thought that the law doesn't apply to them and that they could buy their way out of difficulty with contributions to just the right politicians or judges or influence peddlers? Some of it did make its way into the media, though increasingly, it seems that the price paid by the wealthy in America to enjoy flaunting the law and indulging in personal debauchery also includes owning pieces of the media for control and editing purposes.
This has been a gradual process. The origination point came somewhere during the Reagan Administration. It was more of an enforcement issue back then, in the justice department, when it seemed that regulations designed to protect Americans from what I call exploitation were relaxes in favor of profit margins and unrestrained business practices. But of course, money flows into politics when that becomes the primary means of keeping the flow going. During the Dubya Bush Administration, the invitation was laid out for the rich to buy the government's favor and its been downhill ever since then.
The deceptive ways of keeping the cash flow moving through politics, like the unconstitutional Citizens United ruling which came from a bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court, the PACs, the lack of supervision or prosecution of violations when it comes to corrupt campaign contributions aren't signs that we are moving in this direction, they are signs that it has been achieved and is already here. And I doubt whether a Democratic party sweep in the mid-terms, or a Democratic presidency with both houses under party control after 2028 will change it.
A Justice System Built to Sustain an Oligarchy of the Rich
We have layers of a legal system that is designed to perpetuate this oligarchy of the rich. Money moves its wheels. Lawyers, courts, judges, the training they get seems almost specifically directed at how to make the machine operate in a desired manner by using cash flow to achieve that purpose. Those who have money get what they want out of the system. They can delay, obfuscate, postpone, and make it go away. It has not always been this way. There have been times in our history when the best interests of justice drove the courts, even in the federal government. But, money and influence have, over time, been able to buy the rules they want and fix the system to the benefit of the rich.
The quality of legal services available to those who are working class and even middle class is poor. The system makes it so. Frankly, even high priced lawyers can be lazy and ineffective, since it's not really a profession that has any real moral guidelines. Even though it is money driven, there are no guarantees. As a result, there are ways to pay one's way through the system.
The Effects of This Oligarchy Can Be Seen on Both Political Parties
Let's be honest here. There is no such thing as a party of the people. The reaction and response of Democrats to the worst abuses of Trump's Presidency is moderated by cash flow in campaign contributions to Democratic members of Congress. There have been several periods of time in recent Democratic political administrations, Clinton, Obama, Biden, when we had control of the White House and both houses of Congress and the difference between what was accomplished and what should have been accomplished by Democrats is sitting in the White House right now. It occupies the Speaker's chair and the Vice-Presidency.
It's the dividing line between what is truly the political partisanship of America, the line between those who have and those who have not. Liberal politics, as progressive as they may have been, will never be progressive enough to succeed in delivering on its promises as long as money is allowed to flow so freely into the bank accounts of those who are running for office. Even now, as it has become clear that Trump, in the words of just about every Democrat sitting in public office, is the greatest threat to American Democracy that we have ever faced, the lengths most politicians are willing to go to stop him are limited by their need to act in a way that pleases their donors, rather than a way that protects the American people.
Can we be honest, and say this out loud?
The Failure of Cultural Institutions That Once Protected Us
There were those, even prior to the Second World War, who had doubts about this country's ability to take on facist dictatorships because of its bowing of the knee to the dollar. The circumstances of having weathered the worst financial depression in the country's history allowed the election of a progressive Democrat to the White House, and his policy, to fight against depression, and then change circumstances to prevent another one, along with having to marshall the commercial resources of the nation to win a major world war reversed the trends of big money interests buying the government piece by piece.
But the prosperity that followed allowed the rich to become richer, and that accellerated the switch from being influenced by American idealism to being influenced by whoever could pay to buy the interest.
Protestant Christianity, including conservative Evangelicalism, is the first institution to fall victim to the takeover of the wealthy. They haven't even hidden how obvious it has become that the values of the Christian gospel have been completely underminded and totally distorted by the billionaire class. There's one group that has simply allowed money interests to distort the Christian gospel, ignoring the parts of it that don't support their perspective, and turning money into the only kind of blessing provided by God. The end result of successful prayer in conservative Evangelicalism is how many dollars it generates. Dollars translate in to God's blessings. Values, like humility, integrity and peace, are thrown out the window with Jesus.
The kind of Christianity that is visible in America, especially that which self describes as Fundamentalist, Conservative, Evangelical, Charismatic or Pentecostal, isn't Christian, and, in fact, has underlined its lack of faith by placing it in an adulterous, lying, immoral, worldly man who has openly declared himself to be antichrist by his denial of his own sinful nature. Their worldly worship of money and the lust for the power that comes with it has turned them away from Jesus, and toward Trump, who they proclaim as savior, if not openly and literally, by virtually everything they do.
And if the kind of Christianity that has been created by these abberations of the Christian gospel were true, then they would work like the salt and light which Jesus used as an example, in resolving those problems of humanity which hold us back from true enlightenment, free of bigotry, bias and prejudice, and the hatred that accompanies it, and would have resolved war and violence, economic inequity and poverty. The fact that these human problems seem to be worse in areas where this kind of Christianity is predominant is a testimony to its ineffectiveness and its false nature.
Our education system may be the most egregious victim of money interests. Conservatives have tried, at every opportunity they get, to cut the budgets and destroy the public education system. As a result, what we have is no longer an asset in the preservation of the democratic principles that created the Constitution. Public education, in many places in the United States, is woefully underfunded, and the ability it once may have had to attract the brightest and best professionals to teach in its classrooms has long since disappeared. Colleges and universities are becoming victims of bribes and threats of funding cuts, rather than institutions that stand on their principles. Money is the reason.
And money has caused the free press to be a thing of the past. For profit, corporate-owned media is not a free press. It promotes its own self interest. Not only that, but like cash strapped public education, it cannot attract the brightest and the best when it comes to those who have the kind of mind and independent thinking ability necessary to keep government accountable. Most journalists today can't even read a script without mispronouncing words and not having enough understanding about what they are reading to make it sound like something not being read.
What Can Be Done About It?
At the risk of sounding cynical, I don't think there is anything that can be done about it. The Roman Empire lasted a thousand years, before interior rot caused its demise. The United States of America may not last 250 years. And when it comes to being a people capable of defending our principles, well, I don't think the will is there. We've been spoiled by prosperity, and the nagging problems of humanity, which seems to always act on its worst instincts and the lowest part of human nature, are hard to overcome.
Even the most progressive elements of liberal democracy do not seem to be able to bring about the kind of reform that will be neccessary to keep this country together, and able to sustain itself in an uncertain future. We seem to be using wealth to perpetuate the wealthy, and to build technological tools capable of utter destruction for a profit. For all it has created, our democratic republic and its idealism has lasted for just a tiny slice of world history. If it is no longer sustainable, then what, really, have we achieved?
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