TO THE EDITOR:
A lot of commentary is flying around about the Occupy UNC movement. Critics say it is disorganized, there isn’t a common cause or that people just like to make noise.
But the truly exciting part about this is that we really do have a common cause. The key issue is that we live in a system run by money — an issue raised by Mark Fiore’s animated political cartoon, “Cashocracy.”
Corporations donate to politicians’ campaigns. Once elected, politicians cater their policy decisions to corporate interests in order to maintain their source of campaign money.
It is essentially a system of sanctioned bribes, and it is very obvious that those with money have a far greater influence on policy than ordinary citizens.
This is a major problem because most people think we are living in a true democracy — but we clearly are not.
Corporations also use their money to raise would-be “grassroots” movements. For example, the Tea Party is largely funded by huge corporations like Koch Industries Inc.
It is hardly a coincidence that the seemingly populist movement advocates a corporate agenda while fighting climate change legislation and the Environmental Protection Agency.
While it can be depressing to realize that we live in a “cashocracy” that by its nature is ruled by corporations, it is also inspiring to realize that seemingly disparate grievances are traceable to the same, maddeningly simple, root cause.
Therefore, we must put aside individual causes and join together to advocate for campaign finance reform and the removal of corporate money from elections.
Holly Kuestner
Senior
Environmental Sciences
