After corporations discovered that they could use advertising to take your money (by selling you stuff you don’t need or even really want), it was just a small step to taking your vote. Or making it harder for you to vote. Or convincing you to not bother to vote.
Propaganda for the win!
Ironically, if everyone in the US voted, there is plenty of evidence that progressives would win. Not to mention that even though they pretty much swept the last election, Republicans still can’t govern their way out of a wet paper bag.
