The Money and the Power

Reading The Money and the Power is a little like that scene in The Matrix when Neo is given a choice of taking a pill that will reveal the truth of his universe to him, or one that will keep in blissful ignorance. Ostensibly a history of Las Vegas, from its founding until the year 2000, this book, by Sally Denton and Roger Morris, is a trip through the sleaze and corruption of America.

Las Vegas, of course, was a sleepy backwater when mobsters Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, among others, had the bright idea to turn it into a showplace. Gambling had been legal there since 1931, but it wasn't until after the war that flashy palaces replaced the Western-themed hotels with sawdust on the floor. Siegel didn't live long enough to see his dream explode, but in just a few years Vegas became one of the most popular attractions in the world, and those getting rich were the criminal element. The authors describe the city as the company town for the underworld. Mobsters owned parts of almost all the action, and those who wanted to be powerful had to cater to them. Almost every president that has been elected has received generous donations from Vegas powerbrokers (notably, Jimmy Carter went unmentioned).

This is a very cynical book, and you'll feel like taking a shower after reading some of the chapters. If you believe it all, almost no decision is made in American politics that doesn't involve money changing hands, and that no true idealist can get power in this country. I suppose deep down that's the truth we all know, but sometimes its nice to live in ignorance.