What do you think?
Can a millionaire properly represent your economic interests? Does a millionaire know what it is like to be poor or middle class? Why do you suppose that poor and middle class people continue to elect millionaires to Congress? Could electing millionaires actually hurt poor and middle class Americans?
Can a millionaire properly represent your economic interests? Does a millionaire know what it is like to be poor or middle class? Why do you suppose that poor and middle class people continue to elect millionaires to Congress? Could electing millionaires actually hurt poor and middle class Americans?
I don't think that we have any other option. It's commonly known that you have to have money to run for congress; without money you cant campaign, and if you don't campaign, you wont have a realistic chance at being elected. On the other hand I don't think that the millionaire congressmen know the real struggles of not being rich. I believe that the rich members of congress are only looking to better their own personal wealth and sometimes overlook the lower, and middle class simply because they have never experienced it. Some of the bills on taxes that have been and will be passes hardly affect them. I just don't see that equality in it all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hussam that we don't really have a choice in the matter because popularity of campaign candidates comes from having money to campaign. As we discussed in class, the likelihood of a poor individual becoming rich is unlikely and that many of these elected individuals in congress have inherited their money. I do not believe that these individuals who have been born into money have any true idea of what financial struggle does to society, but an individual who was born poor, gained recognition through hard work, and became financially fit could broaden the views in congress.
ReplyDeleteKaitlin Drake PSCI100:04
What would you define as financial struggle though? As I attend Shepherd, there's few students who have really face struggle, at least I don't think they have. I mean not always, but often people face struggle because lack of effort. Whether the lack comes from lack of support, or distractions... people don't have to struggle financially, buying things you can't afford is what causes that quite a bit of the time. The average American household salary is 50 grand a year, and that's a family with two parents and two children. Does it make it hard to run for an office? Yes.... however it doesnt mean they have really struggled financially.
DeleteKyla Seaman PSCI 100:04
I don't think money has as much to do with how we're represented, as many think. One having money doesn't neccesarily mean one is ignorant to the challenges the poor, and middle class face. I think some wealthy people do a poor job at representing us in congress, however often time these people have their heart in their wallet, NOT the best interest of Americans. However, anyone with their heart in the bank account/wallet cannot truly represent the best interest of anyone other then themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think it's definitely a pretty well known fact, campaigning can often cost millions of dollars, and it's true that someone who is making the average America household salary of about $50,000 would have extreme difficulty of running, but i think media is largely responsible. The media is going to allow air-time to those who are going tobring in money, and your average "Joe-Blow" isn't going to attract tons of people, because often people want to watch the rich people who have been in the center of the media for years.
Also, people don't just get elected for being rich, sure being born into wealth and connections can help, but that's nto the sole reason.
Electing anyone can hurt the poor and middle class, so sure, of course a wealthy congressman could hurt us, yet a poor one could too, again it goes back to whether their heart is in it for themselves or for the American people.
And as a rich person, you do have to be financially sound and able to manage your finances, because often times the more money you have the more exspenses that will pop up.
In the end though, it comes down to the desires of the politicians heart, not their money, but where their heart is.
Kyla Seaman PSCI 100:04
I agree with you on that. I think anyone from any class can represent us, just because someone is rich and was "born with a silver spoon in their mouth" doesn't mean that their heart isn't in it for the American people of all classes. It is pretty much impossible for a middle to lower class person to run for president because running for president consists of having a decent amount of money. The cost of campaigning itself is a bit ridiculous. I think that most people basically vote for these guys because they really don't have any other choice. I don't even think people know why they vote for the person they want in office at times. Sometimes people just take in to consideration the basics of what that candidates views are and they just run off of that. For example; Health Care, abortion, same sex marriage, religion, Welfare...whatever it is, these are the reason's that a lot of people either do or do not choose these men to be in office, and there are a lot more variables that need to be plugged into the equation before making those decisions.
Delete--N Francesconi 100.04--
I feel it is hard to break this cycle of rich individuals representing the country as a whole. Like Hussam mentioned previously these congress men/women have the money to campaign, advertise their name, and buy peoples vote more less. On the other side, these individuals don't necessarily understand the day to day struggle the middle class has. Some of the middle class works day end and day out just to meet their expenses such as; house payments, electric bills, car payment/insurance, and any other monthly deductions. These individuals never truly get ahead of the game. Whereas rich individuals may have struggles and stresses but I feel money isn't one of them. Though we may wish to have someone in congress more suitable to our lifestyles I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Middle class individuals can't pay the amount of money for advertising and just hope to make it on the ballad. If they don't make it, that is hard money flushed down the drain. I believe the middle class still votes for these people in congress hoping that one of them will try to put their head and heart in the daily life of a middle class individual. Knowing that it is a struggle and trying to find an optimum solution that will better everyone’s lives. Hope is the key word for the middle class and until this cycle of rich individuals being elected breaks we have no choice but to live under wealthy congress men/women.
ReplyDeleteShelby Pendergraft PSCI 100.04
I think there are two ways to take this issue: are they millionaires because they were born that way or are they that way because they worked the system, just as all of us are trying to do, and caught a break and became rich. I think that a lot of people automatically go to "well millionaires do not know what it is like to be poor so who are they to look out for my best?"
ReplyDeleteThis thought process may in fact be true for some people. Some people may actually be millionaires and have never had to make ends meet or go without what they need. I also think that some of those people who are just millionaires by chance simply may have the "poor" best interest in hand but it comes down to other factors such as congress and culture. I don't think that millionaires necessarily cannot look out for the best interest of poor people, I just feel as though more poor people should have more of a chance of being in political positions.
Jordan Clark
Psci 100.05
While being a millionaire can change your views on society and the economy, I believe a true politician would not be affected by his or her wealth. This is not the case though, as many politicians today are corrupted by money offered by big businesses and other "contributions". With that said, I don't think the politicians worth millions truly understand how the poor and middle classes work, although I'm sure they think they do. Their clouded and meager insight on how the lower classes work creates a problem. They believe that they can truly help us, or they say they will, but their actions only affect a few. Even with this problem, we continue to elect them as our representatives. I believe we do this for the reasons we discussed in class; due to their wealth, they must know what they're doing, no one from a lower class can really promote themselves, etc. Electing these millionaire representatives could possibly hurt the lower classes, but I believe nothing major will occur. These politicians will usually try to please their constituents, and if they do not they could possibly not be re-elected and lose their position of power.
ReplyDeleteAustin Cline PSCI 100:04
Millionaires in Congress may have become exactly that by birth or by working hard to get the money. In relation to the recession, I really don't think they remember/know what it is like to be poor/middle class. As a student thatwouldn't be going to college had it not been for scholarships, plus watching my mother have a job that pays just enough for us to get by, I don't think they're doing anything to help us, because of their warped view of the lower classes, like Austin said.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Ott, PSCI 100:05
I do not believe that the millionaires representing us now can be genuine. They may say things or make promises that lead people to think that they could, but it's my opinion that they cannot. The majority of them were born into the money (million-heirs?) and have no knowledge of what it is life to be even a middle class citizen, and much less a poor person. I think Americans vote this way because of a pressure to act "responsible", being uninformed, and lack of choice. Being informed is a person's own responsibility. I don't see that changing in the near future. As discussed in class, a way to avoid choosing between one of these millions is to not vote and be vocal about it. That's exactly what I did last election. People did not react kindly. I was pummeled with people on the internet accusing me of being irresponsible, lazy, or ungrateful. In my opinion, it's attempting to choose the lesser evil or neither.
ReplyDeleteDanielle Fuhrmann 100.04
Can a millionaire represent my economic interests? Well, considering that 47% of congress is millionaires they aren’t doing a very good job of it at this time. I would rather congress and political entities all be limited to how long they can serve. I also like the idea that they should not be allowed to pass any rules or regulations on to the people that don’t apply to them as well. Being a millionaire is not necessarily the issue. Being a civic minded public servant instead of a capitalist, lawyer, or industrialist/business person is the issue. Specifically it’s the mindset of the people we elect that should be at issue. We need people who don’t put themselves first, or above the populous.
ReplyDeleteMillionaires may know what it’s like to be poor. It depends on their experiences. This doesn’t mean that they can’t empathize with their constituents. Greedy or power hungry people in office are not avoidable but there ought to be a way to minimize their ability to run for office. Psychological profiling might work.
As stated in another blog, these days if you don’t have capital to pay for campaigning you don’t have a chance of being noticed. This does not always apply at the local level where there is still some real face time between constituents and their elected officials.
Being a millionaire can be an indicator of greed but it does not mean you are not civic minded or empathic to the people.
Joe Woodburn
PSCI 100.05
We all know that money equals power, these facts just solidifies that statement. As many have said the only way to get elected is through campaigning, and the only way to campaign is by having the means to do so. This is why so many powerful political figures are also the wealthiest of the Americans. Now I know there are some millionaires that started off below the poverty line and have made great accomplishments to be where they are today. But many millionaires are the ones that have always been wealthy and continue to get wealthier. Many of the decisions made in congress hardly ever effect them personally and sometimes they even benefit them in a sense. This is why millionaires should not be in the seat to make decisions for more than the majority of Americans. These millionaires don't understand what it actually means to be poor so how can they fully asses and make the right decisions to represent people like Joe Schmoe whose under the poverty line and don't know how they are going to feed their kids that week.
ReplyDeleteKayla Walker
PSCI 100.05
I don't think millionaires can properly represent my economic interests because it is still his feelings that he puts first. Millionaires THINK they know what it is like to be poor or middle class, but I don't think they actually do. Millionaires are elected into Congress because they are the only people that have enough money to campaign for the position and they can hire expert capping managers to oversee their campaign. I think the poor and middle class people continue to elect millionaires to Congress because a lot of the poor and middle class are not educated. When I say not educated I don't mean the poor and middle class don't know how to read and write, but these people are not educated about politics and government. Not many poor and middle class people understand politics and will believe whatever anyone says and they probably think since the guy running for congress is rich, he knows what he is talking about. I do believe that electing millionaires could potentially hurt poor and middle class Americans because the rich think about what benefits themselves, the minority and not what will benefit the majority.
ReplyDelete--Keani Chinn PSCI 100.05
I personally feel very uneasy as an individual of this country that 47% of our congress is millionaires. And the fact that Professor Stump made the comment that the wealthier members of congress have continued to get wealthier makes me feel even more terrible. I have not voted at all since I have been able due to large fact that I do not feel any of the candidates that have been placed in front of me are even worth the time of day. A millionaire cannot represent the lower or middle class in the proper way unless perhaps they were not millionaires to begin with. I know that in today's world there are some people who have been self-made and have achieved millionaire status due to hard work; however that is not to say that everyone has done that. Many of the members of congress have had money passed down from family members to family members and the wealth just continues to grow. Many millionaires who have acquired that wealth will never know what it is like to live in the shoes of someone making $25,000/a year and barely getting by paying their bills.
ReplyDeleteI believe that many people elect wealthier individuals into congress, because those are generally the people that they see campaigning on the television and social media sites. Many people have too much going on with their families and their lives to actually take the time to research and to see what different candidates stand for. I however am not that type of individual, for the past elections I have always researched each candidate to see what they are about. However I have come to the same conclusion every time it is time to vote, I do not feel anyone is worthy of my vote. I am only one person and know that my vote really will not make a difference anyways. I feel that in today's world too many people are too busy with what they have going on to actually take the time for elections and that is where those who have large amounts of money to spend on campaigning benefit. Many people watch their televisions or get on their social media site, the internet or whatever and therefore they see the campaigns and ads of these wealthy individuals. I feel in the end it is a never ending battle, because making people do something they don't want to be worthless. And yes in my opinion electing millionaires is just going to continue to hurt the lower and middle class in the future. Our country is only going to go downhill unless things are changed.
- Cassiana Roby PSCI 100.04 -
I don't think I have ever heard of a poor politician. You either vote for those on the ballot or not at all. Obama and Romeny collected almost a billion dollars for their campaigns, and then ask the middle class to give up more to lower the deficit. The rich donate to the rich, the rich run for office, then support the bills that ONLY help the rich. When the rich need bailouts, the government is quick to hand them money and make the poor pay for it. The rich need the 'middle' class to continue to work so they can stay rich. Government needs to be regulated and not allowed to do whatever they want. The poor vote for these people because of lack of education, false promises, star manipulation and they just vote for whoever says is going to give them the most free stuff. Could millionaires hurt the poor...... Well since all we have is rich politicians and we are in the worst shape ever and have been at a steady decline, yes. It won't change until the poor rise up and demand for change. As long as we keep allowing it to happen it will continue.
ReplyDeleteYes, a millionaire can represent your economic interests. It’s possible they will and will not. But they will most likely favor aspects of society that continue to grow economically. Millionaires can either be born into the life like some celebrities and politicians, they can also work their way to the top, or they could also win the lottery and find their place as a millionaire. Those who worked their way to the top and those who win the lottery are the only people who can say they what it’s like to be poor or middle class. Since they have probably lived that certain lifestyle before, they could appeal to those who are currently having problems as a poor or middle class individual. I think the poor and middle class continue to elect millionaires to Congress because they know they have the power to change our lives. If we elected poor people, they wouldn’t have the funds or support to have a big impact on society and politics. In the long run, if we keep electing millionaires and we DON’T see any improvement, are we going to keep voting for them? Shouldn’t we learn from our mistakes? Electing millionaires could present future problems for the poor and middle class Americans. Millionaires would most likely find their interests in money, not the suffering people of America.
ReplyDelete-=[Matthew Tark: PSCI 100.04]=-
It seems as if wealth is associated with political positions due to the wealth being the avenue in which notoriety is achieved. With our political parties being as well defined as they are today, in addition to the absurdly complex and intertwined involvement of special interest groups in our political system, individuals without significant financial resources lack the ability to first of all acquire an education that 'stands out', secondly obtain the attention of persons and institutions of high position, and finally to fund and further acquire funds for campaigning. In addition, our society loves superstars, most of which are defined by the media and immortalized by the public.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if the only logical alternative to acquiring office via significant financial resources is to vocalize ones opinions and obectives to the point in which a large portion of society is aware through word-of-mouth. This method, however, is generally associated with individuals that are 'extreme' and 'on the fringe'. In addition, many political positions are held by individuals that had or have interests in 'big business', therefore maintaining a conflict of interest between 'big money' and the 'general public'.
It is not likely that a lot of the wealthy politicians 'knows whats its like' to experience the plight of the poor, however; empathy for the poor surely exists. That, in addition to the ability to place personal interests second to the public's interests, is all that is required to develop and implement policy that is best suited towards the needs of the public. It is clear, however, that the ability to refrain from obtaining greater power, in exchange for implementing policy for the people, is very diminished in our current system, which of course is extremely damaging to the large portion of our society that live in poverty due to the lack of representation in our government.
I do believe a millionaire can represent my economic interests. Every person is not born into a wealthy family, and they could have also known others who dealt with being poor. In that case they would at least have an idea of what the low and middle class go through. The reason low/middle class elect millionaires is due from only having mostly wealthy politicians to vote for and knowing that having money creates a sense of power. Electing millionaires could hurt low/middle class if the representative never looked into the struggles of the lower classes and what needs to be changed in society to reduce the gap between the upper, middle, and low classes.
ReplyDelete-Kendall Dozier
PSCI 100.04
Personally I believe wealthy people can not accurately support and represent poor and middle class people. Unfortunately, thesee are the only people who are completely able to represent. As discussed in class, it was mentioned that it takes a lot of money to campaign and run to be a government official. Money is the absolute necessity when it comes to campaigning. If one doesn't have that money, then it would be very difficult to make themselves known, get votes, and represent the community. Even though the current millionare representatives do not know exactly what it is like to be living with a low income, I feel that sometimes they do have the best interest of the poor and middle class at heart. Many politicians have advocated for social security and things of the like. The problem is that they don't necessarily know what is needed in order to carry the programs out successfully, therefore not catering to the needs of those who are part of the programs. All in all, millionare representatives can not represent all equally, but the truth of the matter is that they are the only ones who can get themselves elected successfully.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Amorati PSCI 100.04
I believe that we are electing millionaires to congress because they are the ones that have the money to make a good campaign and expensive advertisements. A millionaire can properly represent our economic interest because we are the ones who voted the candidate into office. Some millionaires know what it is like to be poor or middle class. There are still a lot of millionaires that started out in poor or middle class families and worked hard to be where they are today. I think that electing millionaires to congress could help poor and middle class to strive to become wealthier and to work harder.
ReplyDeleteBlake Hoffman PSCI 100.05
JFK was a millionaire and he did good for our country. However, I dont think a millionaire could properly represent our economic interest today because they do not know what its like not be comfortable with their finances. Unless youve experienced being poor or middle class you dont know; sympathy and empathy do not make up for lack of experience. I think middle class and poor people continue to elect millionaires to congress, because they elect them on their political views and morals are not because of how much money they have. Electing millionaires could hurt the middle and lower class people because for the millionaire in congress they might not be a priority. But in my opinion it really just depends on the political views of the person being elected and their financial status should not matter.
ReplyDeleteAlexandria Tost PSCI 100.05
I am not quite sure why poor people keep electing millionaires into office. They believe that they would actually make a difference and help them out but little do they realize that they really have no experience being poor, so their judgement is far off. I believe they really dont understand the obstacles that poor people go through. Once you have money, everything is pretty much handed to you. My father was dirt poor whenever he was young but now he works for the government and is well off. He worked his way up in life and understands what it is like to be poor and wealthy. He still sees the difficulties that poor people face. It all depepnds on the person and in office, you have to be careful for what they are running for. If they truly have motives to help the poor, maybe that is the only way out for these people and they are having hope.
ReplyDeleteelecting millionaires might hurt the lower classes becasue they might impose taxes upon us that they dont have to pay. I feel lik the upper class works together and tries to have everything benefit them. If a wealthyn person is elected into office, they wont do anything to try and hurt the upper class.
Katlyn Frund PSCI100.05
Whether or not a millionaire can represent my ecenomic interests properly, I think, depends on how he/she became a millionaire. If once a working class citizen then I believe they could represent my interest fairly well, although I do not believe that that is a guarantee. On the other hand if they were born into the money, and never knew what it was like to have to worry about it, then their view of what the working class' interests and needs are may be a bit skewed. However, as I say all of that, I do not believe that the current millionaires in power represent my, or my class ecenomic interest very well at all.
ReplyDeleteWhy middle class and poor people continue to elect these millionaires is because, I think it safe to say, it is because they have no other choice. They are the ones with the money to campaign. I think that when a middle class man actually attempts to run for an office, even if he has fantastic ideas on improvment, he probably loses because he does not have the money to campaign on the same level the competition does. This does damage Americans in some ways I think. One way I see is that, if there was a qualified, working class citizen wanting to run for office he would be detered because of the fact that those with money are the only ones who get elected. Therefore, potential understanding representatives are expelled from the governing system. Also, those with money don't have as much, if anything, to lose as the working and poor class, but we continue anyway to elect them to represent us.
Chloe Powers PSCI 100.05
I believe in certain circumstances a millionaire can represent your economic interest; for example, if they started with nothing and worked their way to the top. However, it’s very rare nowadays to find a politician that doesn’t have some kind of hidden agenda, instead of simply being a voice for the people. The poor and middle class people continue to elect millionaires, because those are the only ones that have the money to get their name and cause out to the public. In today’s society if you wish to be a high ranking politician, you have to have the money to do so. Otherwise, people won’t know who you are if you don’t have the money for advertisement. I believe electing millionaires could hurt poor and middle class society depending on what their political agenda is but it all varies from person to person.
ReplyDeleteMatt Santmier PSCI 100.05
I do think that wealthy people can represent us in congress. I also believe that that mostly every person on earth would have some sort of hidden agenda and they might not even realize it. I think that poor people hit on wealthy people to much just because there mad that they are poor while others are rich. If you want to be rich and you are poor take time to manage your money and your investments. I think that its easier for the wealthy to represent us because they have a great deal of money that they have to manage. Yes we keep going into debt but thats because we have a lot of programs we throw money into that don't need it. Also some poor people like to take advantage of the Govt. I don't think its right to keep hating on the rich just because you are poor, take a look around there are kids all over the world who are dying of starvation with no Govt to help them out at all. Work with what you have and if you want more manage your money in a different way.
ReplyDelete--Jeffrey Martin PSCI 100.04
I believe the reason that poor and middle class people continue to vote for millionaires in congress is because we do not have another choice. In order to run for congress, you must have a lot of money. In order to get votes they must campaign, which is very costly. Someone with not much money would never have a chance to be elected without campaigning. However, the only way I think a millionaire in congress could represent a poor or middle class person is if they were once in their shoes. If the congressmen was once not wealthy and lived like we all do today, then they would know the struggles and challenges we face, and would know how to represent us. If a person in congress was born into a wealthy family and has been a millionaire their whole life, then I do not think they could represent poor or middle class people economically at all. They would not understand first handed the struggles that these people face.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia Karr PSCI 100.04
I don't believe it's always necessarily the "poor people" that elect millionaires into Congress. I personally point the finger to the ignorant portion of our population that doesn’t actually understand which political views a Congressman or Senator has. These are the people that rely on social media to choose a candidate because the politicians that appear on the media are the ones that have money to campaign enough to be showcased. In most cases, “poor people” are more ignorant and uninformed of what is going on in the world and it is because of their lack of understanding that they make poor judgments while voting. However, I’m not saying it is only the lower class that makes poor, uneducated decisions on political candidates. I just believe these are the reasons why we have so many wealthy members in positions of power.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Slifer - PSCI 100.04
I believe in order to keep running for office, you have to have money for campaigning and for people to notice you. Many of them were born into well off families and do not know the struggles of the poor and middle class. The working and middle class elect millionaires mainly because there is no one else to elect. I do not think the majority of the millionaires strive to hurt the poor and middle class, but to society it may seem like they do. The millionaires might think its benefits all the people, but in reality it may only help a small amount of people.
ReplyDeleteKenny Romero PSCI 100.05
This is the result of propaganda and the congressmen being puppets to their corporate "overlords". They(most anyway) make and receive ridiculous amounts of money through false promises and deceitful propositions backed by greedy ambitions that serve no normal American citizen. People are so used to the "one party system"(since both parties really tend to keep things the same really) that most really have no thought to vote third party or are swayed by more propaganda, which often picture third party's as worthless and of insane ideas. Someone born into a rich family(unless they're Bruce Wayne) will never know what it is like for people to struggle through everyday wondering if they'll be able to support their families the next month on the pathetic minimum wages.
ReplyDeleteNathan Lewellyn - PSCI 100.04
I think it is very obvious that wealth does not move far in America. A majority of our representatives have simply inherited their wealth, or earned it by unsavory means. At the price it takes to even run for one of these positions, I do not think that any of them can represent the common man. And with companies paying contributions to their campaign to get their points through, how can we as normal citizens even attempt to sway someone one way or another? Sure, we can vote them out but most Americans follow the two party rule, you either vote democrat or republican, no inbetween. And how can anyone say that two people, supposedly opposite, have all of their interests at heart and can completely represent them?
ReplyDeleteMichael Skaggs- PSCI 100:04
I think that millionaires dont really know at all what it is like outside of Congress. They always seem like they know exactly how the lower class in society feels, but I believe that they will never know now that they are millionaires. I also think that we keep electing people like this because we do not really have anyone else to elect. I do think in the long run electing millionaires could hurt. It seems like when people have money that they only think about themselves. People in Congress may tell everyone one thing but they once that person is elected, they will act on something completely different.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Sealock PSCI 100.05
I believe a millionaire can not represent the poor or middle class. For one, they are not in the position of a poor or middle class so how do they know what is best to help them out. Yes some were not born in the wealthy status, however, now they are not in that position (poor or wealth) so of course they are going to choose what is best for themselves which is high class. I believe the poor and middle class vote for these representatives because one, there are really only millionaires who run for election. In order to get your name out there you need money to campaign which most poor or middle class people who would like to run do not have money to do that. Also, the ones who are running for election do alot of "sweet talking" to attract others and want to vote for them. They say they will help the poor and middle class just to get the votes however in the end they are going to do what helps them the most. For example, the lower class pays more taxes then the higher class, well they might say in their campaign they are going to lower the taxes for the lower class but why would they want to raise the taxes for themselves. So its like a lose lose battle.
ReplyDeleteShanan Plunkett PSCI 100.04
I believe that fore the most part it does not really matter if congress is made up of wealthy people. People believe that congress will not understand the poor and the middle class problems. But what people do not understand is that its their job to know what is going on in every class and they, to the extent of their knowledge, know what we are going through. It is their job to help us and I believe that wealth may hinder this a little bit but for the most part it does not matter. "We" the people elect each and every one of them so it is our fault if we elect the wealthy to represent us. People do not think about that side if it. If you want someone to better represent you then get to know who is running and vote for the person who is better suited for the job of representing you. People keep electing the wealthy to represent them because they are uneducated at to who is running. If people knew who was running then they could pick the best person for them. I do not think that electing wealthy people would necessarily hurt the middle or poor classes because they have not really hurt us in the past.
ReplyDeleteHeather Brown PSCI 04
Wealthy people are elected into higher government because they have the monetary resources to run for these positions. It takes a lot of time and money to run a campaign and, more often than not, people in the lower/middle classes do not have those resources to spare. When you are working full-time earning a minimum wage paycheck, it is difficult to be an aspiring house or congress member alongside of your current tasks. I think that government employees should more accurately represent the population that they are governing, but the majority of the population is too concerned with keeping the bills paid, trying to stay above the surface of poverty, to be able to seriously consider climbing the politician career ladder.
ReplyDeleteThis is just an afterthought, but perhaps one of the reasons why so many wealthy people are elected by the poorer populations is that there is a preconception that someone who is so wealthy must have gotten that way through employment of skill or knowledge, rather than inheritance. So there could be a blind trust that happens when people misinterpret wealth as a sort of credential.
Stephon Hummer PSCI 100.04