Money talks and politicians listen. Campaigns throughout the US are becoming more expensive, incentivizing politicians to further set aside their morals for the rich. Photo courtesy of dreamstime.com.

  Capitalism wins once again, corporations and billionaires are shaping the US political scene with large donations and bribes causing democracy to continuously weaken, leaving voters at San Luis Obispo High School and across the country increasingly powerless in the government and laws that shape their lives.

  During the 2024 election cycle, 5.6 billion dollars were donated to candidates from PACs alone; but what is a PAC and what do they do? A PAC is a group that raises and spends money to support and defeat political candidates while representing specific interests such as corporations, industries, or ideologies. 

  Politicians are then incentivized to make laws and polices supporting these interests in order to secure critical funding from the PACs.

  “Most politicians are bought by big money and big corporations,” said former SLOHS student Max Theodore.

  The staggeringly large amounts of money donated by PACs make them extremely influential, as politicians can’t finance their campaigns without donation money, meaning they must agree to represent the PACs even if they disagree with the issue the PAC is campaigning for. 

  “Money can give you access and politicians will listen,” said U.S. History teacher Seamus Perry.

  PACs shape large issues in our current political world such as the genocide in Palestine, supported by groups such as AIPAC, or our warming climate which is further harmed by PACs such as Koch Inc who donate to reduce oil regulations. 

  “We see that lots of fiscal policy is currently being controlled and effectively manipulated by people in the government, and these people are generally working in the interest of large corporations,” said junior Santiago Baltodano.

  This money causes politicians to sell their morals for campaign donations and represent large donors rather than citizens who voted them in.

  “This in turn leads to a lack of faith in our government’s ability or interest in solving problems for ordinary citizens,” said Perry.

  During the same 2024 election cycle, billionaires donated over 2.6 billion dollars to political campaigns. A large portion of this money was donated to Republican candidates who traditionally help billionaires maintain their extraordinary sums of cash by lowering taxation for the elite and reducing costs for companies through legislation such as maintaining the minimum wage. 

  “When wealthy businesses and individuals are able to dictate policy, rather than the public, I think that’s an extremely worrying sign,” said Perry.

  These donating billionaires’ interests lay in increasing the wealth gap between the average American and the privileged few, reducing the quality of life for most individuals in our country. 

  Under Trump’s leadership, taxes have been cut for the top ten percent of earners and cut more drastically for the top one percent of earners, reducing funding for welfare programs which help lower income Americans meet daily expenses. The national minimum wage hasn’t been increased since 2009, despite the dollar being worth only 66 percent of what it was worth then.  

  Billionaires continue to exploit our government and weaken democracy through their large donations with the purpose of further enriching themselves and casting aside the needs of the American public. 

  “Democracy will continuously be weakened as more power shifts to the very elites of our society,” said Baltodano. 

  Despite this, the voter is still in control. Votes ultimately decide who is elected, and consumers ultimately decide which corporations and individuals they support with their spending. The average citizen still has power through these decisions, but the public must be aware of the reality of the politician they support, rather than simply believing what the politician says and falling into the traps of hyper partisanship.. Voters must do research to understand what their vote truly represents, and withhold votes from politicians who don’t represent them.

Sources: usafacts.org, theguardian.com, Americanprogress.org, dol.gov, bls.gov