[greenie_beans]

re: citizen's united. something i've been thinking about lately, with the latest rise of gen x tech power: elon musk et al (andreesen, thiel, david sacks, etc) got extremely lucky with timing. the 90s internet boom and all of the tech that came after allowed them to become very rich, thanks also to the zero interest rate policy of the 2010s. combined with the timing of citizen's united, you now have elon musk who reportedly donated $250 million to the trump campaign and is now reaping those rewards.

[noisy_boy]

That is basically point #7: Why even have the politicians as middle-men? Use wealth-porn via short-attention-span media to build followers out of money-worshippers and use that clout + money to directly be part of the executive. Why even bother with lobbying groups when you can write the law yourself by being in the same room where it will be passed?

[Muromec]

> Why even bother with lobbying groups when you can write the law yourself by being in the same room where it will be passed?

Unless the law grants you a monopoly, relative competitive advantage is why.