THE POWER OF ONE VOICE

Nobody was home this morning when I got into the shower. At some point between shampooing my hair and rinsing, I started singing a couple of bars from Nessun Dorma, an aria that’s part of Puccini’s opera Turandot. My wife and I saw a performance of Turandot this past weekend and I can’t seem to shake the music from my head. It’s a good thing nobody was home at the time, because my rendition of Nessun Dorma wouldn’t have been recognizable to anybody, except perhaps my wife, who’s suffered through eighteen years of hearing my off-key shower singing and has developed a good ear for bad voices.

While eating lunch I was reading an article on campaign financing and the author was lamenting the vast sums of money being pumped into this year’s presidential campaigns. When I came across the word “voice” in the article, I my first thought was about my shower singing and then I asked myself, how much power is in my voice? And from there, an even more interesting question arose – in a democracy, does it matter?

I can speak pretty forcefully when I have to, and I have the necessary linguistic and intellectual skills to deliver a very persuasive argument in the heat of any verbal battle, but even my voice will only travel so far, and I’m keenly aware of my tonal limitations. I can write, too, and though the number of readers of this blog is negligible, the Internet provides a platform for disseminating my views in case any dare to read them. My point is I’m expressing myself. My words have power, albeit in a limited sense, because very few are hearing them.

But what if I my words, or my voice for that matter, had more power? What if I could yell so loudly that nobody could hear anyone but me? What if I could drown out all other conversation except the conversation I wanted everyone to hear? What if the power behind my voice could stifle the voices of all opinions contrary to mine? What if I could somehow censor, or silence, or deny a meaningful voice to anyone who doesn’t meet with my approval? Wouldn’t that be grand?

You’re probably mouthing the words or thinking, “No, it would not,” and I’m inclined to agree with you, at least the part of me that’s not self-centered or egotistical, but there is something that can accomplish all the above scenarios and we often don’t give it a second thought. What is it? Money!

The United States Supreme Court in its Citizens United decision several years ago ruled that money is a form of speech. It has a voice and the more money a person has the louder their voice becomes. In fact, a person with a large enough sum of money can have a voice so loud that it drowns out all conversation except the conversation that person wants everyone to hear. With enough money, a person can stifle the voices of all contrary opinions and deny a meaningful voice to anyone who doesn’t meet with that person’s approval. The adage “money talks” has never been truer, and the people without money might as well be singing in the shower.