Capitalism Rearing its Ugly Head Within the Government

In The Communist Manifesto Marx states that “[e]ach step in the development of the bourgeoisie was accompanied by a corresponding political advance of that class,” now one may argue that indeed this class has been fully developed in our capitalist society but in our ever changing world I hesitate to say it has reached its final form. In 2010 in the case of Citizens United vs. FEC a prior ruling was overturned that prevented corporate and union expenditures in political campaigns resulting in the ability to now form what is known as Super PACs, or simply just a political action committee. With this ruling private individuals, corporations, unions, foreign and domestic, may now donate money to a PAC with the intentions of that money being used to further political interests through essentially any method that falls within the legal domain of the law.

A huge problem can be seen to arise here, to put it within Marx’s terms: those with the money are coined with the term bourgeoisie and are the minority, while the working class, those with less money and make up the majority, are known as the proletariat. With the ability (or want/need) of politicians running for office, whether it be in the senate, local government, or presidential campaigns, to appeal to these rich minority by making promises under the table, changing stances on issues, etc., these Super PACs only allow for the monster of capitalism and the corrupt individuals with the money to cause change to further their own interests and as Marx put it when he wrote the manifesto, “every form of society has been based, as we have already seen, on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes…conditions must be assured to it under which it can, at least, continue its slavish existence.” While current events are simply history in the making, one can see how capitalism has been allowed to simply buy politicians as those with the most money have the most resources at their disposal and the legality of the actions of a Super PAC are so muddled and nearly unenforceable that a government that was once for the people has simply turned into another commodity to be used by the ones with enough money to buy it.

The ability of capitalism to corrupt in nearly all aspects of our lives can be seen in the fact that these groups have no reason to report donations, do not have to pay taxes, and have the ability to spend the money as they see fit to further their own interests. The hundreds of millions of dollars spent by these PACs, typically with a highpoint during presidential campaigns, blast the television with political ads and ensure that the viewpoints of those with money and power are seen by all in order to sway the majority to their side. Capitalism had grown out of want and greed and continues to do so in nearly every facet of our lives, including the ones that determine how we are allowed to live our own.

On a happier note, I included a link to video from Stephen Colbert’s show (from 2012) that shows the farce known as Super PACs and the lack of legal oversight and control along with a link to short Q&A from The Onion. Both are pretty entertaining and eye opening and I would recommend taking a few minutes to view both.

Not sure how to embed the link so a simple copy and paste will let you view them.

Colbert Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cet3NcNNSc4

The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/what-super-pac-50362