The Broken Political System with Morgan Harper - WBD448

Location: New York
Date: Friday 10th December
Project: Democratic primary for 2022 US Senate
election in Ohio
Role: Democratic
candidate 


It is a common refrain that US politics is broken: a two-party
system limiting serious debate, corporations corrupting politics
via PACs and lobbyists, media monetizing rage, a polarised
electorate demonizing the opposition. The themes are well worn,
but nothing seems to change.


At the same time, society is beset by a growing list of material
issues: rising inequality, a squeezed middle class, unprecedented
levels of debt, impacts of technology on jobs, climate change,
the rise of China, etc. etc. etc. 


There are strong grounds to suggest that such issues can only be
only mitigated or solved through coordinated action managed by
the government. There are equally persuasive arguments that
rather than fix things, the government actually exacerbates
problems. 


If we are to start to repair society, we need to fix politics.
This starts with having politicians citizens can trust,
politicians that are informed, politicians not beholden to
corporations, politicians that make decisions based firmly on the
merit of an argument.   


Cynicism is justified, but it does seem there is a new cohort of
budding representatives on both sides of the political spectrum
who want to bring such change.


In this interview, I talk to former senior advisor at the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and prospective Democratic
candidate for the 2022 US Senate election in Ohio, Morgan Harper.
We discuss her political motivations, removing corporate money
from politics, how Bitcoin can help level the playing field, and
taking politics out of policy.