Congratulations, you bucked the overwhelming norm. People who make it to Congress, with the exception of spoilers, have proven to their respective parties through state elections that they love money, don’t get bored of getting moar money, and know how to get it. That’s how you get promoted in the parties. It’s all they care about.

Because our values are so far beyond fucked it’s almost funny in an absurdist humor kind of way.

Yeah, but I don’t really care what other people think of me, so I don’t feel the need to have to have a ton of money just to impress other people.

I’m sure most of these politicians also don’t care what other people think of them which is why it’s so easy for them to do all this vile shit and stand in front of a national audience telling complete lies with a straight face. They aren’t doing it to gain approval from other people, they’re doing it because they’re following their own concept of what an impressive person does.

Yeah but some people get off on it, like that being in the company of the rich and powerful increases their social stock (in their own insular world), and some thrive on that type of stuff.

I think that’s partially why the well connected and famous billionaires are such miserable assholes. Their lives really aren’t that great because they’re all uninteresting losers surrounded by uninteresting losers who sold their souls for money and power and spend decades between having any moments of real joy.

It’s like that movie, The Mask (and it’s like that for the rest of us, too): the more times you put it on and the longer you wear it, the more you meld into it and the mask into you.