Democrazy

This video was created just before the 2004 elections, so there are many things about it that are dated: there are images of Sen. John Kerry and former President George Bush, there are references to cathode ray technology, which is no longer used to manufacture televisions, this was recorded before I received formal training as a journalist, so my wanton disregard for objectivity is on full display, (there is also my jacked-up hairdo).

However, what still remains current, unfortunately, is what inspired the central theme of this poem, the undue influence that money has on our democracy. This issue is an even graver one now than it was in 2000, the year I wrote this poem. Electioneering has only grown more expensive and in light of a recent Supreme Court decision that equates the "rights" of multi-national, billion-dollar corporations with those of the average citizen, it seems as if it will only grow harder for hardworking people to find representatives who can afford to run for office and still properly address their concerns without feeling beholden to the special interest dollars that helped install them into elected office. And so for this reason--at the risk of seeming biased--have I posted this video in the hopes that I make my voice heard in getting people to think about who their elected officials truly represent.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Ekene Okobi
• E. Okobi
• Jason R. Wood
• election reform
• Election
• freedom
• democracy
• democrazy
• campaign finance