In the US system, as in ALL plutocratic systems, money is power and authority. Both money and power are enabled by fear -- fear of deprivation and disapproval, of people and pathogens. Through a number of decisions over the decades, SCOTUS has decreed that groups of people, like corporations, have all the same rights as individual human beings, and that spending money is a form of speech. Money as speech has closed a cycle by enabling people with obscene amounts of money to yell loud enough to dominate narratives that use fear to convince people to comply to authority. Authority then demands policies that allocate more money (power) to the people already in control. We must not allow fear to keep that cycle closed. Take off your masks. The first step is to declare yourself medically exempt, which is allowed by most state mandates, is very loosely defined and requires no documentation or response to questions by store employees. Such exemptions are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and HIPAA.
The weak link in the cycle is that money is speech. That leak can be broken through a Constitutional Amendment declaring that spending money is not speech, but that isn't likely to happen. However, Power made a mistake by creating the internet and social media, giving individuals with limited amounts of money an opportunity to be heard widely, thus boosting the power of individuals toward a level rivaling that of corporations and obscenely wealthy individuals. People have shown a growing inclination to believe penniless individuals who have no obvious conflict of interest but a dedication to Truth as they see it, rather than corporate "voices," dedicated to the maintenance of their own power, which have been proven to be serial liars. It has reached the point where the "money is speech" link may be broken regardless of political power over law and precedent. That's why there is now so much emphasis being placed on censoring speech contrary to official narratives. We must not allow that to happen. We must wean ourselves from monopoly social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and embrace platforms with a track record of openness and the websites of individuals. We must support those sources through financial contributions and by following and listening. We must fight all attempts to shut them down. We must eventually abandon all platforms that censor contributors and turn off corporate media.
In the US system, as in ALL plutocratic systems, money is power and authority. Both money and power are enabled by fear -- fear of deprivation and disapproval, of people and pathogens. Through a number of decisions over the decades, SCOTUS has decreed that groups of people, like corporations, have all the same rights as individual human beings, and that spending money is a form of speech. Money as speech has closed a cycle by enabling people with obscene amounts of money to yell loud enough to dominate narratives that use fear to convince people to comply to authority. Authority then demands policies that allocate more money (power) to the people already in control. We must not allow fear to keep that cycle closed. Take off your masks. The first step is to declare yourself medically exempt, which is allowed by most state mandates, is very loosely defined and requires no documentation or response to questions by store employees. Such exemptions are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and HIPAA.
The weak link in the cycle is that money is speech. That leak can be broken through a Constitutional Amendment declaring that spending money is not speech, but that isn't likely to happen. However, Power made a mistake by creating the internet and social media, giving individuals with limited amounts of money an opportunity to be heard widely, thus boosting the power of individuals toward a level rivaling that of corporations and obscenely wealthy individuals. People have shown a growing inclination to believe penniless individuals who have no obvious conflict of interest but a dedication to Truth as they see it, rather than corporate "voices," dedicated to the maintenance of their own power, which have been proven to be serial liars. It has reached the point where the "money is speech" link may be broken regardless of political power over law and precedent. That's why there is now so much emphasis being placed on censoring speech contrary to official narratives. We must not allow that to happen. We must wean ourselves from monopoly social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and embrace platforms with a track record of openness and the websites of individuals. We must support those sources through financial contributions and by following and listening. We must fight all attempts to shut them down. We must eventually abandon all platforms that censor contributors and turn off corporate media.
"leak" should be "link"