Rich White Guys Telling Everybody Else What to Do

If I was asked to summarize politics in one sentence I would say it's a bunch of rich white guys telling everybody else what to do. As with any one sentence summary, this summary shouldn't be taken literally. There are people of different genders and races participating in American politics. But the political system is primarily controlled by white men of means.

This post was inspired by a conversation I had on Facebook with one of my very political friends. He posted this story and called out the following line as bullshit:

Buckner noted that the economic situation in North Minneapolis makes it harder for residents to volunteer for a campaign.

If you're unfamiliar with Minneapolis, North Minneapolis is the city's version of a ghetto. It's populated primarily by poor individuals and is economically destitute. Considering that, Buckner's statement is most likely true. Many people living in North Minneapolis live from paycheck to paycheck. Oftentimes they work multiple jobs to make ends meet. In addition to finance-related stress and work many of them have families to maintain. People living under such circumstances have little free time to volunteer, especially when they aren't compensated in any way.

Gaining a position of influence within the political systems requires time or money. Those of you who participate in politics probably know one or two prominent people within your local party unit. Those people likely became prominent because they volunteered a lot of time to the party or made large contributions to the party or the campaigns of the party's candidates. Herein lies a problem with party politics. In order to gain a position of influence within a political party one must first gain recognition. How is a person with no money or free time supposed to gain recognition in a political party?

Campaigns are no different. If you look at the history of political races you'll notice that the winners often outspent the losers by a notable amount. Much of that money likely went into advertising, meet-and-greet events (which are just fundraisers by another name), and buying off other influential people for endorsements (we don't call them bribes in America). Money talks. If your campaign doesn't have a lot of money you will probably lose.

If the political system is tailored towards those who have time and money why not reform it? Because those who have gained a position of influence believe power is finite. Each person gaining influence reduces the perceived power of those who already have influence. Because of this attitude, those who are in position of influence have reason to raise barriers between their position and prospective competitors. It's akin to the game King of the Mountain. Once you're the King you must defend your position. Why would a politician reform a system when such reform would open them up to more competitors?

The poor will never gain political influence because the system is rigged specifically against them.