He was the second biggest political donor to the Democrats in the last two election cycles, behind Soros. Excess campaign funding is a problem tied to big government ie the more comprehensive government power is, the greater need to influence it for self.
There’s no real doubt that his donations across various different races influenced outcomes that affect legislation and policy regarding crypto regulation in the US, the question is to what extent? I guess we’ll find out in the coming months.
(Political affiliation does not matter as the GOP has plenty of scumbag billionaires who donate to gain undue influence over policy, the system is the issue )
Also there’s a “blue washing” element to the story with an outright despicable person with likely illegal business practices buying positive perception from client media and politicians because of his financial support of left leaning ideals which are seen as more virtuous
I’d usually understand big government to refer to the government overreaching and involving itself too much. In terms of the economy and finances this would be too much central planning and over regulation of financial markets. I’m not really sure I see how the government overreached or was too involved in FTX or the crypto market, a market which I don’t think you could generally describe as being over regulated.
The “big government” angle seems potentially like a reach.
I assume by this you mean he influenced outcomes in a way that meant crypto was not appropriately regulated? To put it another way, his donations ensured less oversight of the market, less government involvement, in other words, not big goverment at all?
Your post is fair in suggesting a reach but I don’t view the concept of “big government” on those terms you’ve described, its one element of it.
Corruption and billionaire campaign financing are certainly a symptom of big government. The government and its agencies/departments can act excessively(or willfully neglectful) within its constitutional remit because of undue influence. Just look at the gas and oil sector
I see your angle, ta for explaining, it wouldn’t have occurred to me. However, I do think a finance bro making massive donations to a political party in order to ensure no/less regulation of the market they operate in sounds like the donor trying to ensure small goverment, and I think succeeding in that aim. In one sense, “small government” is more the problem, in terms of regulation at least.
But like I say, I see your angle, and I like the fresh perspective. The issue of political donations/lobbying is murky as fuck lol, and is often really undemocratic in effect.
It is in many places, I am specifically thinking the US now, but it doesn’t have to be.
There is a feeling that it comes with the system but the system can be adjusted to decimate that component.
It’s would be a long post going into constructive examples on how, but in essence it can maybe be summed up by the idea that you have to sever the link between exposure (which is where lobbying money comes in) and converting votes.
This would be especially difficult in the US though, but there are many countermeasures to this in Scandi countries, laws prohibiting ads, commercials, facts checking etc. promoting neutral info platforms and letting public debates between parties dominate the information flow etc.
It’s a massive undertaking to change the apparatus ofc. and no alternative is flawless either, but it doesn’t have to come with the system. I think, even with captialism. I think.
People who think that 100% of a charity’s funds should go directly to the cause itself, and belligerently refuse to accept that staff costs are absolutely essential if they want the charity as they know it to continue existing and doing even a fraction of the work it currently does.
Just people who are left wing lol, cos right wing people definitely think their adherence to tradition, family values etc is more virtuous than the sexually degenerate left, who will try to trans your kids if given half a chance.
I feel it’s generally held view already widely reflected in society. There a reason why you rarely see mainstream celebs openly propagate social or economic right leaning policies or ideals.
The concept of a “silent majority” who have right leaning ideals but don’t voice them out of social fear isn’t new. It’s just a reality people alot of people (not all) with left leaning ideals feel more comfortable voicing them publicly because they think it makes them appear to be a better, conscious person
I’ve never seen large groups of trans people marching through the streets with rifles and hand guns demanding people use their preferred pronouns. It’s a regular occurrence with right wing Trumpites screaming about how the election was stolen and the government is coming for your guns.
Another factor in this is basically all celebrities live lives that are not reflective of the reality of the real world, so it’s easier for them to talk about things idealistically.
Got to defend my man Leo here. He actually does a lot for climate change. Not just one speech one time. He has donated about $100million dollars to the cause and invested in numerous businesses. He’s on the board of the WWF and numerous other organisations. He works with solar power companies and ethical fashion brands. He’s a UN Messenger of Peace!
Sure he has got a private jet on occasion. But it’s hard to find an activist who isn’t a hypocrit at times. Leo does far more good than bad to the cause. He has also produced lots of vegan documentaries as well - like “Cowspiracy”.
He does more for the environment than world leaders!
Taking flights is just about the most polluting action a person can take, and by that I mean a regular flight with hundreds of others on board. Taking private jets is worse by many, many orders of magnitude, and pretty much undermines anything else the person in question might do to advocate for looking after the environment. It’s truly an astonishingly polluting act.
Anyone taking private jets while advocating for looking after the environment can absolutely get fucked. You really don’t care for the environment that much if you can’t even bring yourself to fly first class/business instead of having a whole fucking jet to yourself.
I generalised my post to be about celebrities in a wider sense because I know there’s no hope of having an unbiased conversation with you about Leo aka the Giroud of Hollywood.
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