Money is root of power in government
More than any time in history, the world equates money with power. The more centralized the wealth, the more despotic it becomes. Recent news: 400 of the richest Americans have more of it than nearly half of this country's population.
I'm on Social Security, without which I would be on welfare, what's left of it. My 49-year-old daughter contracted chronic Lyme disease three years ago and has frequent, debilitating seizures. I annually contribute what I can to organizations that seek to find a cure.
But we have a Supreme Court that allows billions of dollars, through the Citizens United decision, to be deposited into the coffers of the media rather than to foundations that can potentially find a cure for such currently incurable diseases.
Illinois just replaced a billionaire governor with another billionaire. Half of Congress are multi-millionaires, and Trump alleges he's a multi-billionaire. Both political parties covet wealth but use different semantics to express their differences, which in the end, come out the same.
Why have these 400 hoarded their fortunes above the fundamental level of need to the stratospheric level of want when so much of the world is in such distress?
James D. Cook
Schaumburg,