“Show Me the Money! (Really?)
Like many people who are politically aware and somewhat active, I get messages several times a day from political parties, individual candidates, and public interest groups.
Invariably (yes, without variation), they ask for money. Their pitch works like this:
Hi, I’m [fill in the blank], and we need your help.
Your contribution will be matched by [X] times [from never-mentioned, never identified agents] to do the good work of overturning our opponents.
The situation is dire. You must respond immediately with a contribution of $[fill in a few bucks, always less than $100] at [link embedded here].
Our opponents will stop at nothing, so we need your money right away. [As of this writing, we are 641 days away from the next federal election.]
I’ve been generous in my contributions to Democratic causes and organizations. It has not delivered the results desired. Why?
Perhaps because we were outspent in the last cycle by billionaires on the GOP side: $7.6 billion versus $4.5 billion by Democrats and allies. Fair enough.
But the question arises, what good does the spending do? It’s all for messaging, often targeted at our brain stems where our most base instincts reside. It often misrepresents the truth and details of policy are always, always omitted. The other side is painted in the most evil light and has no redeeming characteristics.
Now, I’m not naive about politics. It’s really mostly an effort to paint the opponent as unwise at best, downright evil in the middle, and beyond redemption at worst. But I’m tired of the morality play.
The pitch for money assumes that I’m buying into the good versus bad guy. narrative. And there’s plenty of evidence coming out about the wickedness of Trump and his minions as they seek retribution.
But governments are not supposed to be weapons. They are supposed to be places where we figure out what the situation is and how the people’s lot might be improved. That does not happen while everyone is yelling at each other. (My mother used to say, “Stop yelling and try helping.”)
Adding my paltry contribution on top of the billions already spent will not convince anyone of anything. The art of persuasion is dead anyway. We only seek to vilify our opponents as enemies to scare the unwary.
Democrats, if you want my money, you will need to start giving me reasons beyond Trump and MAGA are evil. I can see the damage they are doing, but lizard-brain messaging will not work on me. Tell me what you would do to improve the plight of Americans.
