trickle down theory

The theory that the views, values, beliefs, opinions and superstitions of the Super Rich can be made to trickle down to the rest of the populace forcibly. Because money is power, as the divide between the rich and the poor grows wider (as tax policy becomes less progressive via policy manipulations), eventually a very small portion of the population holds the vast majority of the wealth. Combined with a chronic and severe lobbyist problem and systematic removal of sane limitations on political ad spending, the result is that vast wealth can significantly affect public policy. The concept of Democracy (one person, one vote) begins to break down as the wealth unbalance becomes extreme. The effect is self-serving: the power of the super wealthy to steer policy grows, as does their wealth, due to their undue influence. The result is that logically-defective memes can trickle down to the population and cause otherwise reasonable people to vote against their own interests and even against the most fundamental founding principles of the nation. Refer to definition of "American Taliban".