The CEO of a British manufacturing firm makes on average eighteen times the salary of his/her average employee. In Germany the same CEO makes only thirteen times the average salary his/her corporation pays out. In the United States a CEO in the manufacturing industry makes on average four hundred and forty one times the salary of his/her average employee. This appalling discrepancy in earning power has consequences that stretch far further than simple economics. In a democracy, everyone’s voice has the same volume, and everyone’s opinion is given equal weight. In America this is decidedly untrue. Our society no longer works as simply as it once did, when a presidential hopeful would take a train across country speaking at the major cities along the way. Now is the time of mass media; television, radio, newspapers and magazines carry information from coast to coast and into people’s homes. These new media cost money, and only those with the most money can afford the exorbitant fees charged for a 30 second commercial spot on a national television syndicate. These peoples voices are magnified to thousands of times the volume and impact of the average American, and fed directly into the nation’s collective ears. The detrimental effect of this monetary magnification of opinion is especially apparent in politics. While there are myriad political parties, only two consistently manage to raise enough money to organize the massively expensive election campaigns used to promote their candidates. The other parties cannot advertise thusly, leading to enormously fewer votes and their continuing exclusion from the nationally televised presidential debates. In the same manner those wealthy individuals and corporations that can afford to donate millions of dollars to the campaign funds of the two main parties gain massive political sway with the members of said party. In this manner we receive our government as surely as if it were a dictatorship. A party empowered by its money, acting in the name of those who provided its funding. Capitalism at its finest.