Hightower -- The Big Three secret funders of the $75 million campaign to trash Democratic candidates

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2624

It's unlikely that you have heard of a novel entitled Alpaca, but it was a remarkably portentous piece of political writing by one of America's first billionaires, Dallas oilman H. L. Hunt. Self-published in 1960, the 191-page book laid out his vision of a libertarian, plutocratic utopia.

Hunt's ideal society was one in which the wealthiest would have a disproportionate say in government. He saw them as the achievers and, as proven by their riches, the most meritorious of citizens. They should get not one vote, he believed, but three, for they could be trusted to protect the volatile masses from the rise of populists.

The book was met with well-deserved hoots of laughter, derision, and outrage, and H. L. spent the rest of his life branded as the self-indulgent billionaire that he was. None could imagine at the time that Hunt's preposterous plutocratic kookiness would ever creep from the fringe into the center of American politics. Yet, 50 years later, the essence of his anti-democracy screed is back with a vengeance. It has gotten political lift from another generation of self-serving billionaires, been sanctioned by a cabal of corporatists on the US Supreme Court, and become the guiding 'principle' for Republican congress critters, governors, and legislators.



However, instead of following Hunt's clumsy plan of increasing the number of votes that moneyed elites get, today's proponents of corporate plutocracy have simply elevated money itself above votes, establishing cold, hard cash as the real coin of political power. The more you spend on politics, the bigger your voice is in government, making the vast vaults of billionaires and corporations far superior to the voices of mere voters. Indeed, politicians (Republicans and Democrats alike) rarely speak to ordinary people anymore. They talk to Big Money, and when elected, Big Money talks to them.

More at the link --

[SpiralHawk]

1. "All pigs are equal..."

"but us Republicon pigs are more equal than others." - Republicons

[starroute]

2. I've heard of Alpaca (am I the only one here who has?)

Believe it or not, Hunt actually showed up at a science fiction worldcon in 1962 trying to promote the book. He doesn't seem to have been very good at it, though. Here's a somewhat gonzo recent recollection by the chairman of that convention about his encounter with Hunt:

http://efanzines.com/EK/eI29/

Me (flat busted broke as usual) and old H.L. Hunt (flusher than just about anyone) sitting on soda fountain stools, having breakfast. Money! (The Dark Side of the Moon.) Seated at the counter because he’s too cheap to tip for a table. Nibbling through long silences of dry toast and never finding out why he invited me or what he wanted to say. Watching him—incredulously—Jack Benny finger pennies from the deep recesses of a (well-worn and much-used) snap-closed change purse, doing his damnedest to outwait me, hoping I’d pick up the check. How're things in Alpaca?