re: #67 ericblair

There’s a lot of nuance to geopolitics and international economics, for which my education is simply not equipped.

For a lot of people, if someone sounds confident in what they present, they can present all manners of bullshyte which will be accepted as truth. Anyone can do that, liberal or conservative, though the right seems to have the monopoly on bullshit-producing media machinery.

And money is not power; money is an instrument of power according to modern theory (the others are diplomacy, information, and military). They all influence each other, but they’re not the same.

Money can buy power, diplomacy, or a military. Each of those elements are as you note, not the same.

It sure is easier to earn your second billion dollars than it is your first. Once you have that first though (either through inheritance or winning the lottery, the so-called Protestant work ethic isn’t going to do it), getting the attention of politicians suddenly becomes much easier.

I’ll bet Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE3, “I don’t represent Democrats in our district”) would listen to me if I had a billion dollars and I wanted to get his attention, or fund an opponent.