Some people are talking a lot about the evils of socialism these days. None of the other isms are pure gold, either.
Capitalism. Populism. Communism.
They all look good on paper. But in reality, they’re all swindles. At least, they can all be corrupted by swindlers.
The swindles work the all swindles work. The swindlers promise something, but, whatever they propose, the costs exceed the benefits.
Swindlers have turned government into a tool for turning public resources into private benefits.
The public resources definitely include taxpayers’ money, but they might also include what political scientists call the Commons.
Air quality. Water, or water quality. Public land.
The way the swindle works is that the swindlers (and by that I mean politicians and their donors) sell the project to the voters. “Economic development,” they say. “National defense.”
“Moral virtue.”
Some people fall for the swindle, but some people just go along with it because they stand to benefit from the swindle themselves somewhere down the line.
Like builders and contractors likely benefit from contracts for public works. They’ll jump on the swindlers’ bandwagon. Or media that run ads.
Or accept donations.
Most people are too busy to investigate, or even think about, the swindles they’re being conned with.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the bamboozlers from the bamboozled.
Our local politicians aren’t elected because they’re smart, or careful, or even experienced. Mostly they’re elected because they, or their handlers, have constructed a good media campaign. They’re packaged like frosted doughnuts and sold to an electorate hungry for a sugar high.
And usually those media campaigns are financed by the swindlers themselves. And when they win, our elected officials are beholding to their donors.
No matter what the project is, the mechanics of the swindle work the same, whether it’s a data center, or a deck park, or a war.
And who is to say that the swindles won’t work this time, just because they haven’t worked in the past?
But that’s like saying that a team that’s 0 and 20 is due for a win, just because they haven’t won in a long time.
Not likely.