MASTER PLAN, Ep 11: Are We Doomed To A Master-Planned Future?

In the final episode of this season of Master Plan, David Sirota takes a trip into the heart of darkness and offers some deeply personal thoughts on where we’re headed. 

Corruption has become so ubiquitous it’s like the water we swim in. In the 2024 election, Donald Trump is soliciting campaign cash and promising policy favors in return. On the Democratic side, Sirota’s trip to this year’s Democratic National Convention shows how corporate influence and billionaire worship are baked into the party’s culture. He reports on a billionaire’s convention speech bragging about his wealth, and then a speech from a former credit card CEO — all while the logos of crypto groups and corporate sponsors adorned the banners of swanky afterparties.

Sirota grapples with the difficult questions for those of us who do still notice and still care. From the DISCLOSE Act to public financing of elections, he explores the different efforts currently underway to combat the influence of dark money. But these efforts all face uphill battles, not just because of the master planners’ power in Congress and at the Supreme Court, but also because corruption has been so normalized.

Sirota recounts a firsthand experience on the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign illustrating how difficult it is to even speak out about corruption. The phenomenon has only gotten worse in recent years as billionaires, pundits, and the political establishment have attacked those who dare to fight back.

What happens next largely depends on whether everyday Americans demand that our government actually works for them, and not for the master planners. To assess whether we stand a chance, Sirota considers one very familiar politician he’s clashed with over the course of his life — a politician with a complicated and contradictory past, but who has periodically sounded an alarm. Whether or not we heed that alarm will determine the future of our democracy.