Table of Contents
Real stories that reveal how the game is rigged
Three companies control 90% of the insulin market. They raised prices 1,200% in two decades. People die rationing insulin while executives get rich. Why does Congress do nothing? Follow the campaign donations.
Two Pennsylvania judges took $2.8 million in kickbacks to send children to private juvenile detention. Both were convicted and imprisoned. "Kids for Cash" exposed how perverse incentives corrupt even the justice system. The mental model that could have prevented it.
Members of Congress consistently beat the market. They trade stocks in industries they regulate. It's legal. Here's how insider information flows through the halls of power—and why the STOCK Act didn't stop it.
Understanding the cognitive biases and incentive structures that make the rigging work
Why campaign donations work even without explicit bribes. When someone gives you something, your brain creates unconscious obligation. Politicians aren't necessarily corrupt—they're human. The system exploits this.
Never ask a barber if you need a haircut. When someone's paycheck depends on a certain outcome, expect their thinking to align with that outcome. How financial interests shape political decisions without anyone noticing.
We assume what everyone else is doing must be right. We defer to authority figures. These tendencies evolved to help us, but in politics they make us vulnerable to manipulation. Recognizing the pattern is the first defense.
When everyone acts in their own short-term interest, the shared resource gets destroyed. Climate change, political polarization, the attention economy—all tragedies of the commons. Understanding the structure reveals the solutions.
Industries don't fight regulation—they capture it. Former lobbyists write the rules. Revolving doors between industry and government create systemic conflicts. The fox doesn't raid the henhouse; it gets hired as security.
Quantifying the rigging with hard numbers
Real numbers on inequality in America. Not opinion—data from Federal Reserve, Census Bureau, IRS. The gap between CEO and worker pay. Wealth concentration. Generational wealth transfer. The GINI coefficient tells the story.
Where campaign money comes from and where it goes. Industry concentration in donations. Voting alignment with donor interests. Stock trading patterns. All public record—if you know where to look.
What does a rigged system cost you personally? Student debt vs. other countries. Healthcare costs vs. outcomes. Housing affordability. Wage stagnation. Real dollars from your pocket to theirs.
Practical tools for seeing through manipulation and taking effective action
Concrete techniques for spotting manipulation. How to verify sources. Tools for detecting deepfakes. Building your own bullshit detector. The skills for navigating an age of manufactured reality.
Step-by-step guide to following the money. OpenSecrets, FEC records, congressional financial disclosures. The Check Your Rep tool. How to see conflicts of interest yourself—no expertise required.
Understanding leverage points. Where to push for maximum effect. Why some reforms work and others fail. The difference between symbolic gestures and structural change. Thinking in systems, not symptoms.
Historical examples of collective action working. The civil rights movement. Labor organizing. Campaign finance reform victories. Voter registration drives. You're not alone—and that's the point. Building power through numbers.
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