In addition to being the world’s most daring billionaire, Elon Musk has officially become co-chairman of President-elect Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

Yes, you heard right.

The man who builds spaceships and Teslas will lead a government initiative tasked with “(breaking up) the Government Bureaucracy, (cutting) excessive regulations, (cutting) wasteful spending, and (restructuring) Federal Agencies” to better align with the Republican party’s agenda – no matter what. it can.

Optimistically, we could argue that Musk knows more than we give him credit for. Perhaps his understanding of the intricacies of the emerging U.S. technology and manufacturing industries could be useful in creating a more innovative government structure.

Or — hear me out — maybe Musk donated so much money to the Trump campaign that the only reward befitting a man of such influence was actually giving him even more influence.

Here we are. With no previous experience in bureaucracy, Musk is now tasked with reshaping it from the inside out; It’s an undertaking almost as ambitious as plans to colonize Mars.

But Musk’s new title speaks to what I believe is a deeper issue that overwhelms the American government: the bold role given to inaccessibly deep pockets in our contemporary politics.

To be honest, money has always been important in politics. You need to fund promotional and campaign efforts effectively enough to mobilize voters in your direction.

But as we saw in the last presidential election, political campaigns have become spectacles held at concert venues featuring famous speakers and sponsored by wealthy individuals and corporate interests.

Musk’s PAC, unnecessarily named “America PAC,” donated nearly $200 million to Trump’s reelection campaign; That’s $54 million more than Future Forward USA Action, Vice President Kamala Harris’ largest corporate donor. While this amount is surprising, donations from the wealthy to American politicians are nothing new.

Wealthy Americans have consistently been the most active in political life; approximately 99% of them claim to have voted in the 2008 election. They are also the ones most likely to donate to political campaigns. The wealthy can be key to a politician’s campaign finance efforts, making them a valuable demographic to appease.

But given that wealthy Americans are, on average, more economically conservative than most Americans, they will have a greater incentive to vote for a like-minded candidate who will best reflect his or her politics. their interests. This reality is not impossible in a Congress where more than half are millionaires.

Our government is full of wealthy politicians who serve other wealthy Americans or corporate interests because these entities can provide politicians with their most important asset: cash.

Why is the US consistently opposed to health care and strong unionization? Why has the United States continually cut progressive social welfare efforts and kept the minimum wage stagnant? Why have we seen tax cut after tax cut as the middle class dies and the wealth gap widens?

Because once again, money has an impact on US politics.

Money, not merit, policy plan or charisma, has become the most vital necessity for America’s modern politicians; they favored policies that benefited the rich because they like that rich people. 12 years ago the average member of Congress had a net worth of $1,008,767 (not adjusted for inflation), and the typical member of Congress spent less than 2% of his life in a working-class job.

Call me crazy, but I feel like we have a government that represents us less than ever before, with a soon-to-be billionaire president at the top. And their rhetoric portrays progressive social policies as wasteful approaches to the problems of poverty and inequality.

In fact, underlying this whining is a bewilderment that so many average American voters are either flocking to elect elitist, uninformed officials or simply have no other choice.

We need more politicians struggling with rent, grocery shopping, raising kids alone, or going to college. Because lack of perspective in positions of power has consequences, and it is never the rich who suffer these consequences.