1% Rules

Ever since I was able to somewhat comprehend things, I heard a lot about how big corporations are hurting America, especially from my foreign parents. But I was never sure why, I mean I just assumed that they had too much money and it was unfair but I wasn't sure what they did with this money. One thing I so obviously neglected was the amount of power that these large corporation have by creating their monopolies. That’s where Chomsky steps in.

Principle #7, Engineer Elections. “The funding for campaigns is not just to get the candidate in. If you’re funding a candidate, it buys access.” He says this in the middle of the chapter, after he has been ragging on large corporations for a few pages. In his analysis of how these corporations are treated he says, “Undocumented aliens who are living here and building your buildings, cleaning your lawns, and so on, they’re not persons, but General Electric is a person, an immortal, super powerful person.” Wow. I had to read that over a few times to make sure I read it right because it really made me upset. How in the world can a person be seen as an alien but corporations who help themselves and no one but themselves are more important. Corporations are literally buying our elections with no restrictions. A candidate running for political office, according to Chomsky, will give donors privileged access because they want the money to flow in. Thomas Ferguson a political scientist even said that the investors have the power not the voters.

In the evidence section, Chomsky uses 2 court cases and an article written by a political scientist and a statistician. All three back up his claims about the government elections being corrupted and that the American people (the voters) are not the ones with the power. In the article it says, “Big Money’s most significant impact on politics is certainly not to deliver elections to the highest bidders. Instead it is to cement parties, candidates, and campaigns into the narrow range of issues that are acceptable from big donors.” This made me believe him. All the evidence put together after reading the chapter made me sit there and say to myself, “Damn he’s right.” By using the strategy of laying his claims out and explaining them and then recapping it all with hard evidence really makes it logical.

Chomsky makes me think like I haven’t had to in a long time, I like it a lot. He really just writes what he sees as reality and doesn't care what you have to say about it. His audience, people like us are more adapt to maybe agree with what he is saying because we don't necessarily have set principles in our head.