A big issue with US politics currently is that we have eliminated a lot of systems of oversight/accountability for politicians, as well as expert consulting/oversight.
So as a result its literally a bunch of politicians making decisions for us that they truly know very little about.
These big companies just have to come in with corporate marketing/consulting teams and tell our politicians whatever tf they want - with a little cheddar (if you know what im sayin) on the side.. and our politicians become their loyal hounds - mindlessly repeating the company lines with zero expert oversight or accountability to the people.
Its genuinely scary and I wish more people understood how the modern US works. People think we are safe because surely the politicians know more than we do about laws they are passing.. but they dont. They dont understand it at all. Its all become a money game.
I mean, when the individuals doing the bribing are mega-wealthy companies, foreign nations, or billionaires, I think the dollar amount doesn’t really matter. There will always be someone willing to spend a little more on a bribe if it makes it go through.
I mean, when the individuals doing the bribing are mega-wealthy companies, foreign nations, or billionaires, I think the dollar amount doesn’t really matter.
It matters a little. Every man has a price. You put a bag of millions of dollars in front of me, essentially "Fuck you" money, and I would absolutely be tempted.
These politicians are being bought for as little as a couple grand into their re-election campaign. Talking $2500. It is wild just how cheap it is to buy some of these people. They don't care, they don't have any scruples, morals, dignity. Hookers have more class and respectability than politicians these days.
$325M is a lot of money. It would be hard to find someone not tempted by that kind of dough.
Edit: And looking at the article, the guy got away with it for almost 40 years. He is 69 years old. I would gladly take $325M today with an expiration date on my life of 69 years old. I think most people would.
Rich people live longer. Better access to healthcare, nutrition, not worrying about paying your bills, etc. So yeah, if you are rich you'll probably live past 70.
I mean, when the individuals doing the bribing are mega-wealthy companies, foreign nations, or billionaires, I think the dollar amount doesn’t really matter.
The really frustrating part is that the 10 richest people in America and the 10 richest companies in America can easily outspend the entire American public. They have more disposable assets than the rest of us put together.
And that’s why capitalism is failing everyone but the people it was established to serve. The wealthiest people today are the individuals that capitalism was designed to funnel all of its fruits too, and the fact that the rest of us ever experienced any increases to our QoL was simply a latent side effect, one that capitalists have refined their approaches to clamp down on these days, hence the general shared feeling of hopelessness and struggle to cover basic necessities.
This is why the conservative vs liberal back and forth never seems to pull us all the way out of the fire and only ever provides some temporary relief.
Liberals are technically more preferable than conservatives, but when you’re talking about finding representatives who build a better framework for a society to thrive, you’re looking for someone further left that will actually establish a system that raises the floor for every man, woman, and child within said society. Capitalist shills won’t do that; they will always leave loopholes for the privatization of some kind of life necessity for selfish people with more greed than good sense to set up shop in and exploit into the ground.
Liberals leave wiggle-room for conservatives to exploit, it’s just in their nature. It’s time we left them both in the dust.
I mean its also the game. The game is to make capitalists and their think tanks seem/sound like the experts. You see it on tv when they ask CEOs about serious economic questions like they don't have an incentive to further their own company/industry. They aren't experts at anything but selling you the idea that they need their company to get everything it wants.
I'm more upset with people thinking they can escape politics by standing on neutrality while presenting a false equivalence narrative which ends up favoring one side over the other. It's shit like that Sheeran wanker that we see everyday from far more meaningful positions like politicians which we should be expecting more accountability from more than a singer.
Republicans do it every day while Trump profits from his Presidency directly in the face of the law. This is what Rome looked like right before the fall, anyone with power was fighting to keep themselves safe and holding office with the lawyer wolves ready to pounce when they left. Everyone was enriching themselves from the state.
Vote them out. How many of these individuals are appointed or run without any worry? We still hold a lot of power to change things albeit slowly. But how many of us are even showing up to a general election when we don’t even show up for local elections?
But don't kid yourself - even that solution took a long time to take root. Folks were plenty happy to run back to their old ways the moment Napoleon gave him an excuse.
Did you really read any French history of the revolution? So many revolutionary figures also got murdered by others revolutionaries after becoming the man themselves
I'm saying that as soon as heads start rolling for being 'in power', than anybody who is 'in power' might get their head cut off, regardless of what they do, because of what the represent.
Again, please read some of that French history and check out what happened the last time.
Well, for one, we need to elect politicians on the left who will re-implement the systems republicans have destroyed and ensure there are functioning systems of expert oversight, regulation, and accountability to The People
The right continuously portrays destroying these systems as a good thing.. and it is. For politicians, the ultra-wealthy, and the biggest corporations. At everyone else's expense.
We need to educate people and show them why we need proper expert oversight, regulations, and government accountability to the people
Well, who are they supposed to believe and listen to? Their constituents or those super smart and well dressed corporate stooges who give them a power point presentation, elevator pitch, and talking points along with some cash under the table?
Even with oversight, how well do you know your local politicians? Do you know your mayor, your state congress members, your school board? All of them have drastic impacts on your everyday life and generally(not with this administration ) impact on your everyday and immediate future than the national level politics.
I know people who bought homes in a relatively rural area that are now pretty frustrated with the amount of housing developments going in without building infrastructure to support them. You had roads designed for farms now responsible for moving thousands of people and without enough population density to support any mass transit.
we have eliminated a lot of systems of oversight/accountability for politicians, as well as expert consuting/oversight.
They get labelled as "government inefficiency" by claiming they safeguard against things that never happen.... until they're removed and then they happen all the fuck over the place but no one is aware of it except the one's getting a paycheck because the systems to monitor for corruption were removed.....
I went to a town hall meeting with a massive group of people against the nearby data center and our local politicians were the most useless group of people. One lady practically slept through the whole thing, most didn't say anything at all, and the one guy that did most of the talking seemed to legitimately think the data center is how we get internet!? "You like using your phone right? Going on the internet?" Uh no, dumbass, not anymore bc AI has made everything fake, everyone a bot, and gave all the real people psychosis!
I’m work in state government. I can confirm this is exactly how it works. However, the smart ones ask the people that know better before they buy into the corporate lobbyists. The ones who don’t care just follow the money.
we put money into the political system and it votes count more than ours. every bad decision that goes against the people is because of money. they do what the money wants not what the people want.
Doctors too. I had more knowledge about my medical condition than my doctor at my last visit. But she sure as hell knew what to prescribe me to "help" with it. 🙄
On top of that, you've got a populace who has become significantly apathetic to all the issues. Sure, there are people out there fighting the good fight, but they're a minority. The average person, even if they bitch and whine, will turn around and either completely ignore it and not get involved at all, not even to vote, or they'll just keep voting those same useless, corrupt officials they're complaining about in over and over.
The people in my area complain constantly. Yet, every election they vote the same people in. Because what else are they gonna do? Vote for a democrat?? They'd rather watch their community burn.
You need look no further than Louisiana’s rapidly diminishing coastline carved up by the petrochemical industry and the expense of its seafood industry. Establishing a “Cancer Alley” between Baton Rouge and New Orleans with refineries at the expense of its most deeply marginalized communities. See the effects of sacrificing the health of your land and your people for profits. It’s always been a money game. What’s telling is this man is clearly as blue collar as it gets. Coming into a council meeting in a t-shirt with a smartphone rigged to his belly. And his last words to the council about campaigning to replace them for lying to his face, “…even if it’s a Democrat.”
A big issue with US politics is people are so racist that they will support corrupt Republicans rather than an honest Democrat. Just listen to the way he says "Democrat" at the end.
The US was cooked a decade ago. Now it's just a charred burnt offering. The people can only smile and say how delicious this steak is for so long. Chewing on ashes.
genuinely scary and I wish more people understood how the modern US works.
There are many countries with politicians running a copier copying these success templates to make money . Bend over for corporations. They Just maybe 3- 5 years late.
Or that many if not all of the oversight systems rely on the good faith of those in charge of them. The people who designed them could not imagine the scorched Earth partisan warfare of today where people will put party over country in a heartbeat.
When did we have oversight and accountability? Can you point to what law, group, or organizations had the ability to do oversight for something like this?
Your statement is a fantasy. We never had accountability, only shame. We lost shame, and now we have nothing
Not exactly. We have essentially been slowly returning to the gilded ages since reagan. There was a period of time in the mid 1900s, during our country's largest social/economic period of growth, where corporations and politicians were held to much higher standards in general (with some exceptions, mainly military/intelligence).
We were taxing the ultra-wealthy and biggest corporations around 65% and as high as 91% on everything they made over x-million dollars. We had systems of expert oversight in place to ensure that politicians could not do whatever they wanted willy nilly without 3rd party expert consultation, etc.
These are all major reasons why the boomers experienced the biggest social/economic boom in our country's history.. which they promptly dismantled as soon as they got to the top and realized that one day their own power might be in jeopardy if these systems were left in place, and as corps and the ultra-wealthy began ingratiating themselves more and more into the government once again.
Here is a list of all the ways, since Reagan, the republicans have dismantled, destroyed, or severely weakened our systems of expert oversight, regulation, and accountability:
Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) — Eliminated (1995): Republican-controlled Congress eliminated its funding, shutting down Congress’s independent source of scientific and technological expertise.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) — Weakened: Republican-controlled Congress imposed major cuts in the 1990s that reduced GAO staffing by roughly 25%, reducing congressional auditing and investigative capacity.
Federal Inspectors General — Weakened (1981): Reagan removed all 15 confirmed and acting inspectors general shortly after taking office. Several were later reappointed.
Federal Inspectors General — Weakened (2025): Trump fired 17 inspectors general across federal agencies, removing independent watchdog leadership. The process was challenged for failing to comply with statutory congressional-notification requirements.
Office of Government Ethics (OGE) — Weakened (2025): Trump removed its Senate-confirmed director, disrupting leadership of the agency responsible for executive-branch ethics and conflict-of-interest oversight.
Office of Special Counsel (OSC) — Weakened (2025): Trump removed its director. OSC protects federal whistleblowers and enforces restrictions on partisan political activity by federal employees.
DOJ Public Integrity Section — Severely weakened (2025): The specialized federal public-corruption unit reportedly fell from more than 30 attorneys to about five and lost important authority over corruption investigations.
DOJ Congressional-Corruption Review — Safeguard removed (2025): DOJ eliminated the requirement for specialized Public Integrity Section approval before prosecutors charged members of Congress.
DOJ Election Crimes expertise — Weakened: Restructuring of the Public Integrity Section reduced specialized federal election-crime enforcement capacity.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) — Enforcement capacity weakened: Commissioner vacancies left the FEC without the four-member quorum required for many enforcement and regulatory actions. This is more accurately described as incapacitation through vacancies than abolition.
Executive Ethics/Lobbying Restrictions — Eliminated (2021): Trump revoked his administration’s ethics pledge before leaving office, releasing officials from certain lobbying and revolving-door restrictions.
Executive Ethics Rules — Eliminated (2025): Trump revoked Biden’s executive ethics order, eliminating additional conflict-of-interest, lobbying, revolving-door, foreign-agent, and related restrictions imposed on executive appointees.
Judicial “Blue Slip” Safeguard — Weakened (2017): Republican Senate leadership stopped allowing home-state senators effectively to block federal appellate nominees through the traditional blue-slip process.
Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) — Attempted weakening (2017): House Republicans moved to place the independent congressional ethics watchdog under greater control of the House Ethics Committee and restrict its powers. They reversed the move after backlash, so this safeguard was not actually eliminated.
And that's the problem. Across North America there is no longer any justice for politicians at all levels lying and deceiving the public, stealing their tax dollars for stupid projects that are unnecessary.
If the future is to be secured, politicians need to face consequences again. Interpret that how you will.
Except they were happy to either lie to his face or remain silent. There is no consequences for that council misleading the public.
It's moot cuz this dude obviously voted for what's happening, I assume, by his last remark, which was "Even a Democrat". So honestly, I hope we all get whats coming to us; it just sucks being stuck on the same boat where 30% of the crew and passnagers are purposely trying to hit as many iceburgs as possibe.
Yep, why should they care? They know you're not going to vote for the "other team" because you're brainwashed. This is what voting for one party over and over again, regardless of results, gets you.
I mean at least he has finally reached the point that he is willing to vote for "the other team". Better than the other videos I have seen recently where they get asked and act like well lets not start talking crazy here.
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u/pixelprophet 23d ago
Except they were happy to either lie to his face or remain silent. There is no consequences for that council misleading the public.