Category

Society

May 27, 2023
1

The difference between Canberra lobbyists and the Voice is that one operates in the dark, with few rules and plenty of space for sneaky deals, the occasional back scratch or pocket filler. The other will be a constitutionally enshrined body operating according to legislation, transparent and legal and representative, offering little chance for backroom deals and post-retirement sinecures. No wonder the opposition dislikes the latter. [https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/at-last-a-pm-who-leads-a-government-with-purpose-20230525-p5db3k.html]

Richard Abram
April 28, 2023
1

Throughout American culture and politics, billionaire cash often works in a crudely transactional way, but it much more commonly operates more subtly. This, more than anything else, is what undergirds the machinery of American conservatism: a relatively small number of rich donors fund right-wing organizations and think tanks; those organizations and think tanks cultivate voices and personalities who serve as spokespeople, Republican-aligned operatives and public intellectuals; they, in turn, get to enjoy the favor and flattery of the wealthy people whose interests they protect and whose money fuels it all. The end result is a vast and powerful network of organizations and individuals whose ideological bonds are constantly lubricated by injections of cash from a tiny pool of plutocratic patrons.

Luke Savage
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