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It's not just the first amendment, but a three-step failure: (1) government can't restrict people's speech (first amendment); (2) for-profit corporations are "people"; (3) money is speech. That gave us Citizens United[1], and as long as politicians are a bit more subtle than Duke Cunningham[2], it's allowed.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Cunningham#/media/File:Du...

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This is helpful for illustrating the manipulative nature of a society which has normalized unexplainable support of brands and advertising.

Of course, the reasons to believe (2) and (3) were enacted as a means to a different end are bottomless. They were accomplished by undermining our cultural, emotional, existential perceptions of the world we live in and depleting our capacity to make intelligent decisions.

How was this accomplished? By advertising; the same things motivating Facebook’s entire business model. (and Google’s)

Our campaign financing norms are absurd, and have unruprisingly ruining our whole political complex.

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