Crony Capitalist vs. Grassroots Underdog: Who Will You Vote For?

In a previous article from the Vanderburgh Independent Press we addressed a very concerning underlying factor in our city’s politics. That factor: Crony Capitalism. The following definition from Wikipedia.com was provided in the article.

“Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state interventionism. Crony capitalism is believed to arise when business cronyism and related self-serving behavior by businesses or businesspeople spills over into politics and government, or when self-serving friendships and family ties between businessmen and the government influence the economy and society to the extent that it corrupts public-serving economic and political ideals.”

Essentially, Crony Capitalism from a governmental perspective, can mean that those who have been in office for any amount of time receive special favors from others who have also been in office for any amount of time. For the people to do anything about this factor, we must first see that it is there. The only way we can see what is there is to assess the situation at hand by the effects of current operations.

Judging by its Fruit: The effects of Crony Capitalism can often be seen if the poor keep getting poorer and the rich keep getting richer. It can be seen if politicians or candidates have their hands, their families, friends of the family, and their pocketbooks pulling strings and receiving benefits from businesses like FC Tucker, Old National Bank, and Vectren… if there were such a thing as Crony Capitalism in Evansville, that is.

It could be seen if $18-20 million hotels are being built with tax-payer money while the city’s homeless population continues to increase dramatically each year. It could be seen if a hand-out of small funds goes to the homeless services agencies for the mere purposes of political recognition while the big businesses get preferential treatment along with much greater funds. It could be seen if a zoo penguin exhibit took precedence over offering an affordable health insurance to the first responders in the city. It could be seen if such an exhibit took precedence over paying the outstanding health insurance bills of the city’s police and firefighters.

But mostly, it can be seen when one government official can spend years and years in their governmental positions, even fail miserably at those positions, only to then be appointed or elected to a higher-paying or more authoritative office despite their failures. What takes place in this process is that those who have held positions for some time develop “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” relationships, helping each other to cover up failures, unproductive or corrupt methods, even and including unethical and sometimes illegal activities. And then, “We the People” fail to hold them accountable to their campaign promises.

Unfortunately for the citizens of this great city, those politicians who have been in the system for years, changing nearly nothing, bettering only what is beneficial for themselves, these Crony Capitalists continue to receive your vote. Why? Because you remember hearing their name? Because their paid advertising made their name more popular than their underdog opponent? Because they built something with tax-payer money for personal recognition unto the furthering of their career?

Whatever the reason is for the uneducated vote by mere popularity, we must all ask ourselves the questions, “What have they done for me lately?” before punching some popular name on the ballot. “What did their popularity get me when looking at their last office held? Or what did it get the impoverished? Or the homeless? How did their presence in their previously held office positively affect anyone in this community? Or did it only help themselves?” Judge them by their fruits, not their popularity.

So how can you tell the difference between the Crony Capitalists and the Grassroots Candidates? The Cronies tout their plethora of endorsements, their accolades in previous offices, and even their special-favor connections throughout their campaigns. The Grassroots candidates are more passionate, less popular, spend less money, have fewer yard signs, sound less like politicians, actually go door-to-door, aren’t nearly as manicured, and are trying to play “catch-up” with the big spenders with silver spoons.

It is time to rethink how we vote. There are several impassioned Grassroots-style candidates running in this election who have never been in office, have never bowed to the corruption of Crony Capitalism, and have a heart to change our community… your community for the better. It is time to stop accepting the lesser of evils in a popularity contest, and to start voting for candidates who want to make a difference. There’s an old saying… “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” If you want more of the same with special favors and backroom corruption, go ahead and vote for the richest, most connected, most popular name on that ballot, but if you want to make a difference, you have to vote against the Cronies and for the Grassroots candidates.