Who Is Greedier--The Left Or Right Wing?
There is one thing both left and right wings agree upon: they want your money. After the election emails from progressive sites chanted "Be afraid. Be very afraid. You-know-who is back in office and he will put us all in jail.” They needed our support “more than ever.”
Yet conservative sites, perversely, are also trolling. “Dear Patriot,” their emails say. “The left wing has pledged to attack and block us every step of the way. We need your help more than ever.”
There are several ironies to the post-election donor appeal avalanche. First, progressive sites have alwayssought funding even when they were “in charge” and not victims. Some lefties have told me, off the record, they are happy to be out of power again because victimhood and fundraising is their wheelhouse and they did not know what to do when in power anyway. (Which is, by their own admission, why they lost the election.)
But conservatives? Aren’t they the guys with the money like Musk and Peter Thiel? The one percent who help pols “buy” an office? (Both Illinois’s current leftie governor J. B. Pritzker and former rightie governor Bruce Rauner were accused of buying the office--probably somewhat true!) Why are conservatives peppering our email inbox with sob stories and donor appeals when they are not just wealthy but soon to be charge?
Certainly, big tech--Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft-- has swallowed smaller and alternative web sites that people used to love with their self-serving search algorithms and looting of online ad dollars. Many sites have just disappeared or become essentially volunteer operations and hobbies.
But such sites have become hard to love with their teaser pay walls, click bait, infomercials and intrusive donor appeals. Which came first the commercial invasion or the ad drought one wonders.
Nor does the ad drought explain why mainstream news sites who are not big tech victims also swamp visitors with donor appeals and intrusive click bait. Exhibit A is the Associated Press itself, once the gold standard of journalism, now trolling for reader dollars like everyone else. Hey AP: quit acting like an NGO and not for profit and put on your big girl or boy pants.
Pimping Medical Care
The medical world might be the poster child for money grabbing. Robots from medical centers text you that you need an appointment and call you if you owe money. They tell you that anything you want or need can be resolved with their friendly app. But try to get a real person on the phone? Hey, hiring someone costs money!
Older people are inundated with ads for Medicare “advantage plans” and “supplements,” pretending to be “from the government” but actually pimping on behalf of insurance companies with scare marketing. Hey senior citizen--you are at risk of losing your hearing, vision and teeth without us. Nor will you be able to pay for your (over-priced) three and four-digit prescriptions. Sign here.
Of course, drugmakers don’t want your money—they already have it. How much RFK Jr. hand-wringing and catastrophizing is just news outlets’ fear of losing their cushy Big Pharma ads and gravy train? Or haven’t you noticed that most “news” today is brought to you by “Ask Your Doctor” ads? “RFK—don’t step on our revenue stream!”
Clearly, the election--like Covid--has brought out the insecurity in everyone. And the answer, says both political sides, is to reach deep into your pockets and show your generosity and support. But who is greedier?