Buying Influence

One down side of being principled is that it rules out people “buying influence” from you. If your viewpoints and opinions aren’t for sale, if dollars can’t make you change your tune, then most of the people with big bucks will just ignore you—they won’t pay you to say things they disagree with (obviously), and if they already agree with what you say, why should they bother to give you money to do what you were already going to do anyway?

This isn’t a complaint; it’s mostly just an observation of a natural phenomenon, which has somewhat unfortunate side effects. In short, in most cases it is a lot more lucrative to sell your soul than it is to stick to your principles. If your “opinions” are for sale to the highest bidder, there will always be some political organization or someone else with some political agenda, who can get you to be their cheerleader by throwing money at you.

“Endorse my candidacy and I will pay you!” “Vocally support this legislative agenda and I’ll give you cash!” “Talk more about this and less about that, and you will be rewarded!”

And the more money and power some individual or organization gets from the authoritarian system, the more they can afford to buy the support of more and more people. In contrast, if your opinions are all about removing political power and control, then the people who benefit from the game won’t give you anything, except maybe to offer to pay you to shut up—which also doesn’t work if you’re not for sale.

And totalitarian control freaks often have massive amounts of ill-gotten wealth with which to buy the support and approval of anyone with an audience. And they do. Meanwhile, the regular people who just want freedom rarely have huge piles of money to throw at fellow freedom-lovers, and even if they did, why would they bother? If you’re going to advocate freedom anyway, why should they pay you to do it? If someone has a choice between a free car, or paying a bunch of money for the same car, why would they choose the latter? The same holds true of opinions.

Obviously, there are exceptions. For example, over the years there have been a number of people who have helped support me with various projects and getting my “message” out there, without trying to make me change it at all. (Only a few times has anyone tried to use money to get me to alter my message, or my focus, and it didn’t work.) So it’s not that no one will support people who stick to their principles, but there is definitely a huge financial advantage to being willing to sell your soul to the highest bidder. (I will refrain from giving any specific examples and names here, but you can probably think of plenty on your own.)

So maybe this is just me venting about how frustrating it is to be in a game that is so thoroughly rigged, where the advocates of authoritarian control and domination have nearly limitless resources they can use to “persuade” people to see things, and say things, the way that serves the masters. There are literally thousands of very well-paid politicians, columnists, “reporters,” and other talking heads, getting rich by advocating statism. The puppet masters pull their strings, and sign their paychecks, and own their souls. Meanwhile, those of us actually condoning “liberty and justice for all” (the real kind, not the BS statist version) are often not only on our own, but more often than not are the targets of ongoing and continual orchestrated, well-funded propaganda, demonization, suppression, harassment, and sometimes outright sabotage.

Sorry if you were hoping this would end with a rousing pep talk, because the punchline here is basically that if you advocate freedom for all, and authoritarian power for none, and if you refuse to compromise your principles for a paycheck, then you are far less likely to be financially successful than the people who will sell out, accepting money to support this or that candidate, or party, or policy, or idea. It’s just the reality of the situation. The state, and all of its minions, mouthpieces and puppets, have a nearly unlimited supply of stolen loot with which to buy “loyalty” and support. Meanwhile, advocates of freedom have only whatever we can acquire through voluntary means, and manage to keep the parasite class from stealing.

I will always be thankful for the stubborn bastards who would rather tell the truth and be poor, than get rich by “believing” and saying whatever pays the most.

(P.S. In case anyone wonders, no, I’m not saying that anyone who is prospering financially must be a sell-out. I’m just saying it’s an uphill battle. Of course there are people who manage to be financial successful without selling out or compromising their principles. I hope to be one some day.)

(P.P.S. When I was looking for an image that conveys the concept of an “uphill battle,” I happened to find that last image, which just happens to bear a remarkable resemblance to the anarcho-capitalist “flag.”)