Money is a power.

Submitted by Sheerahkahn (United States), Dec 12, 2002 at 14:46

Patronage is the personal relationship between two people.

One with a need for money to conduct one's own business which could be political aspirations, financial success in business dealings, or access to exclusive ventures not available to the average person. The other, or the patron, is one who has interests that need to be protected, or has other needs, being business, legal, or political interests that requires extra-special considerations from someone on the inside who can protect them.

The relationship is beneficial to both parties, and both parties walk "together" for a very long time, usually for life, ensuring one another's success.

There is a patron for every politician, and in some cases, there are more than just one. Of course for the individual receiving patronage, it becomes important to monitor the interests of his various patrons, lest he discovers that one patron's interests collides with another his patron's interests, and thus force him to pick one -- more than likely, the more powerful of the two.

When American politicians engage with foreign patrons, they will do whatever it takes to protect their patron's interests because it is in their own financial interest to do so, even to the detriment of what is morally right because enough money can override anyone's sense of loyalty.

Patrons know one thing: money is power, and patronage is the vein through which it flows.

Sheerahkahn

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