The New York Czar of "donocracy", Michael Bloomberg, has taken the spreading greenback ideology to a new level of triumph. Any doubt about the fact that "donocracy" has replaced democracy in America should now be buried deeply. Czar Bloomberg's officially reported and unofficially granted expenditures will exceed one hundred million dollars.
This all-time price for a New York Mayoralty is indicative of the inflation now rampant in America's "donocratic capitalism" which has replaced our democratic capitalism. Congressional seats will soon average no less than two million dollars when primaries as well as general elections are contested. U.S. Senate seats will require no less than ten million. At the local and state level, the election industry hustlers are steadily ratcheting up the campaign prices. What was once a quiet whisper is now openly mandated by nervous party bosses and candidate-recruiting technicians. "If you can't personally raise half of the financial quota for this office, you should not run."
Competence, compassion, honesty, integrity, dedication, imagination, leadership ability; these have all become ancillary and incidental qualifications. The Czars, Barons and Sheiks of the "donocracy" tolerate no excuses and show contempt for any exceptions. The failure of an aspiring leader to spend most of his waking hours on the phone begging for dollars is considered unprofessional conduct and a moral flaw. Within the profession of elected officials corruption is a blemish only for those who are caught. But fundraising ineptitude immediately raises questions about a leader's fitness to serve. An absence of dollars becomes an insurmountable disability. Presently, the size of the war chest is the only standard measurement of the worth of an elected public servant.
Czars, Barons and Sheiks designate and sponsor their champions. Those who have no donor syndicate behind them are rapidly perishing. Royalties and aristocrats now command charismatic knights in an updated brand of medieval control. "Donocratic capitalism" may lock our society into a new kind of feudalism. "Donocratic capitalism" is a destruction of the basic balance of power achieved by democratic capitalism where the votes of the masses moderate the powers of the wealthy. When wealth is used to brainwash and control votes, our society becomes trapped into a dangerous class dominance, a dictatorship of the very rich.
"Up against the wall!" and "Down with the rich oppressors!" represent very non-productive mindsets incapable of coping with the problem we face. Investors, entrepreneurs and all of the vast networks and systems of the corporate world are vital necessities for our economy. The most effective antidote to "donocratic" dominance and overreaching is the rapid creation of a "democratic donocracy". It is not a contradiction to assert that millions of small donors have the freedom and opportunity to salvage our democracy by mobilizing new contributors all across the great spectrum of political ideas and beliefs.
Let every family set aside just one percent of their income for political donations. Such an action would force the current Czars and Barons to bow before this more powerful juggernaut of funding sources. Congressional districts have approximately 650,000 constituents each, or, about 200,000 families. A donation of ten dollars from each family would guarantee the most relevant, sensitive and effective representation possible. While it is impossible to stop the mega-dollar Bloomberg copycats, there is still no reason to surrender to the tyranny of elite "donocracy". Whether it is accomplished through direct mailing, robo-calls, cable television, Internet e-mailing or some other method, "democratic donocracy" must become the major political revenue source for the immediate future.
Why not launch a concrete "Democratization of Donocracy" Internet e-mail fundraising project. Call for a massive number of small contributions for every House or Senate member who meets three out of the following four requirements:
- Initially voted against the Iraq War Resolution
- Voted against the first appropriation for the War in Iraq
- Voted against the second appropriation for the War in Iraq
- Is currently on record (by letter, resolution, membership in the "Out of Iraq Caucus")
calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
We must use millions of pennies to empower the true peacemakers.