Kenneth C. Griffin
Kenneth C. Griffin is the richest man in Illinois, he founded and is currently the CEO of Citadel, a global investment firm. Griffin is the number 69 on the richest people in America list according to Forbes, his net worth as of 11/30/15 being 7 billion dollars. He is currently 47 years old and attained his wealth through hedge funds and his own self creation.
Two years ago Griffen gave a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago dinner encouraging for a shift in the state’s balance of power. “The rich families remaking Illinois are among a small group around the country who have channeled their extraordinary wealth into political power, taking advantage of regulatory, legal and cultural shifts that have carved new paths for infusing money into campaigns” (NY Times).
The changing of politics in Illinois through money is like the political bosses of the 19th century. A political boss was a man with a lot of money who controlled the people in political office with their abundance of money. The political boss system of the time was very anti-progressive because the progressives believed they could control too much of politics and had too much power. This system is like what is happening today in Illinois with Griffin and the rich attempting to grab the reigns of the political power structure. This can and will become a problem in Illinois because other states will start to see this and attempt, eventually it could even go nationally, which will only bring our country backwards. It will also put all the power in the hands of the rich, which would be another problem the United States cannot handle right now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/us/politics/illinois-campaign-money-bruce-rauner.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
http://www.forbes.com/profile/ken-griffin/?list=forbes-400
Is this also similar to the boss system in the cities during the Gilded Age?
ReplyDeleteBosses in cities looked after new immigrants and in return, the immigrants would give their votes to the bosses. Boss Tweed was a famous boss, and he also controlled people in political office.
https://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/gilded-age-scandal-and-corruption/
Throughout history we keep seeing this problem of the rich taking all the power and controlling everyone, and everything and it has ended badly every time. I think these rich people are smart enough to see this too so what would be their motivation to keep trying to make it work?
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ReplyDeleteIt was interesting how you were able to connect Kenneth C. Griffin with the political bosses in the early 1920s. It's unfortunate that politics are still dominated by the rich, and it's hard to change this because money is such a strong motivator. Do you think that there is any form of government that can operate efficiently without any corruption? This article provides a interesting view and explains why America is the most corrupt nation in the world:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.juancole.com/2013/12/corrupt-country-world.html