Keeping the rich out of government

[giovanni]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

Well, perhaps this famous sentence from Lampedusa's "Il Gattopardo" sums up how little Italians will expect from any changes:

Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi.

Or, literally translated: "If we want everything to remain as it is, we need to change everything"
.....

If i or anybody was to believe these type of sentiments,one would have to believe that Italians cannot,will not and have never been able to change anything in there lifes.

Although when you look at her modern unified history, that would tell a totally different story......

[elliven]

For me private ownership of the media is wide open to self glorification for the owner and the risk of cornering all the footy. You decide which is more important! The trouble with being rich and a politician is you have loads of dough for campaigning and self promotion can work so I say cap campaigning funds to provide a level playing field for all candidates.

[iTALY BOUND]

The United States is struggling with the same issue that you (elliven) bring up. I think that the American people are attracted to politicians with a lot of money to throw around because of the conventional thinking that says "if you have lots of money, you must be doing something right." i dont know how it is for Italians on this issue, but over here, people need to stop looking at how much money a candidate has and look instead on how they got that money. Politicians with money to fund their own campaign have the potential to avoid owing favours to others who have helped finance their campaign, but people over here don't see it that way. Look at what happened to Ross Perot. Granted he was a bit loony in his views, the media portrayed him negatively for completely funding his own campaign.

I also completely agree with your idea of a solution "cap campaigning funds to provide a level playing field for all candidates." Every Candidate gets X amount of money to spend and they aren't allowed to use any more than that specific amount.

[Gala Placidia]

Campaigning and voting in the USA is a very specal phenomenon that does not happen in other places; however, I tend to agree in that most people, particularly during difficult times such as a recession looming, prefer to have someone rich and successful at the helm. It sounds silly, but perhaps it gives them some kind of comfort.... But then, people are not always right. History proves it.

[iTALY BOUND]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

Campaigning and voting in the USA is a very specal phenomenon that does not happen in other places; however, I tend to agree in that most people, particularly during difficult times such as a recession looming, prefer to have someone rich and successful at the helm. It sounds silly, but perhaps it gives them some kind of comfort.... But then, people are not always right. History proves it.

Your right. history shows us that people almost never get it right when it comes to running a country in a just manner. I think this topic is best summed up by the old saying "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I disagree however with your statement "Campaigning and voting in the USA is a very specal phenomenon that does not happen in other places." The world is becomming more democratic and as a result elections are happening more often in more places. Whether or not these elections are fair or not can be validly debated; but I think that people are very apathetic and as a result they fail to hold their officials accountable for their actions (USA included).

[Gala Placidia]

I was mainly referring to campaigning for the USA elections. It is something very difficult to understand if you do not live in the country and the amount of money needed and spent to run a campaign is quite surprising for those of us who are used to a different system. I have a daughter who has been living in the USA for quite a few years and who is about to become an American citizen. I know that she has been making contributions to one of the candidates' campaign and I questioned her on that issue. Her anwer: "This is the way things are here, Mum"... which still does not help me to understand the system.
As for the main issue... people, in general, like winners. A successful person is considered more competent... which may not be true, but then... It's human nature!

[Cat Bauer]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

I was mainly referring to campaigning for the USA elections. It is something very difficult to understand if you do not live in the country and the amount of money needed and spent to run a campaign is quite surprising for those of us who are used to a different system. I have a daughter who has been living in the USA for quite a few years and who is about to become an American citizen. I know that she has been making contributions to one of the candidates' campaign and I questioned her on that issue. Her anwer: "This is the way things are here, Mum"... which still does not help me to understand the system.
As for the main issue... people, in general, like winners. A successful person is considered more competent... which may not be true, but then... It's human nature!

Gala, I am an American citizen, and lived there most of my life. I never gave any candidate any money, except on a very local level in Los Angeles, or to support a Proposition -- not all states have propositions like California, which does give an individual voter a type of "direct" influence. I would never give a penny to anyone on the national level in the USA except on my tax return -- there is a little box you check: "Do you want $3.00 to go to the Presidential Campaign Fund?" (Or something like that.) I am curious as to why your daughter thinks that is "the way things are here." I haven't participated in an election for many years, and don't know what the rules are these days.

Here is one of my favorite little stories:

As Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, on September 18, 1787, he was asked if the framers had created a monarchy or a republic. Elizabeth Willing Powel, wife of the mayor of Philadelphia, and a woman in her own right, asked him: “Well, Doctor, what have we got?,” and Franklin responded: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

[iTALY BOUND]

Originally Posted by Cat Bauer

Gala, I am an American citizen, and lived there most of my life. I never gave any candidate any money, except on a very local level in Los Angeles, or to support a Proposition -- not all states have propositions like California, which does give an individual voter a type of "direct" influence. I would never give a penny to anyone on the national level in the USA except on my tax return -- there is a little box you check: "Do you want $3.00 to go to the Presidential Campaign Fund?" (Or something like that.) I am curious as to why your daughter thinks that is "the way things are here." I haven't participated in an election for many years, and don't know what the rules are these days.

Here is one of my favorite little stories:

As Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, on September 18, 1787, he was asked if the framers had created a monarchy or a republic. Elizabeth Willing Powel, wife of the mayor of Philadelphia, and a woman in her own right, asked him: “Well, Doctor, what have we got?,” and Franklin responded: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

I completely agree. Your donation to a campaign in the US doesn't mean anything to them unless it is in the thousands of dollars at least.