| The CEO of a British manufacturing firm makes
on average eighteen times the salary of his/her average employee. In Germany the same CEO
makes only thirteen times the average salary his/her corporation pays out. In the United
States a CEO in the manufacturing industry makes on average four hundred and forty one times
the salary of his/her average employee. This appalling discrepancy in earning power has
consequences that stretch far further than simple economics. In a democracy, everyone's voice
has the same volume, and everyone's opinion is given equal weight. In America this is decidedly
untrue. Our society no longer works as simply as it once did, when a presidential hopeful would
take a train across country speaking at the major cities along the way. Now is the time of
mass media; television, radio, newspapers and magazines carry information from coast to coast
and into people's homes. These new media cost money, and only those with the most money can
afford the exorbitant fees charged for a 30 second commercial spot on a national television
syndicate. These peoples voices are magnified to thousands of times the volume and impact of
the average American, and fed directly into the nation's collective ears. The detrimental effect
of this monetary magnification of opinion is especially apparent in politics. While there are
myriad political parties, only two consistently manage to raise enough money to organize the massively
expensive election campaigns used to promote their candidates. The other parties cannot advertise
thusly, leading to enormously fewer votes and their continuing exclusion from the nationally
televised presidential debates. In the same manner those wealthy individuals and corporations
that can afford to donate millions of dollars to the campaign funds of the two main parties gain
massive political sway with the members of said party. In this manner we receive our government
as surely as if it were a dictatorship. A party empowered by its money, acting in the name of
those who provided its funding. Capitalism at its finest.
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