Los Angeles Socialists Love Their Billionaires
My latest California Post column looks at the billionaire money behind L.A.’s socialist politics — and the hypocrisy voters should not ignore.
Our morning content is free for all subscribers and guests! If you are not yet a paid subscriber, consider upgrading — you are missing a significant portion of what we produce each week, and your support makes it possible. If you want to get it all and support my efforts, please consider a paid subscription!
You can also listen to this post — along with my California Post column — on our podcast feed, So, Does It Matter? SPOKEN. It is available on your favorite podcast app. And you can listen to it here.
Luxury Socialism Comes To Los Angeles
Apparently, Los Angeles socialism runs on billionaire money.
That contradiction is becoming harder and harder to ignore as wealthy Silicon Valley and Bay Area donors pour massive sums into activist groups, DSA-aligned candidates, criminal justice reform campaigns, and independent expenditure operations shaping Los Angeles politics.
The rhetoric is anti-billionaire.
The funding is billionaire-backed.
In my full California Post column, I look at the donor network behind Smart Justice California Action Fund, the wealthy progressive financiers helping bankroll Los Angeles races, and why the same ideological movement tied to George Gascón’s rise is now trying to move even deeper into City Hall.
The column also examines the hypocrisy at the center of modern progressive politics: billionaire money is supposedly a threat to democracy — unless it is funding the Left.
I also connect the Los Angeles version of this phenomenon to Tom Steyer statewide, whose political reinvention from hedge fund billionaire to anti-billionaire populist may be one of the most absurd examples in modern California politics.
After years of backlash over crime, disorder, and collapsing public confidence during the Gascón era, Los Angeles voters may want to think carefully before signing up for another round of billionaire-funded ideological experimentation.