Russell Simmons talks economy, inequality and the vote

Stephan Useche/ Staff Writer

With only three days left for people to register to vote, volunteers and members of the political sphere are rushing to make every citizen count. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, entrepreneur Russell Simmons stopped by the Graham Center to talk issues.

“Battle for your Ballot”

FIU Student Media: What made you get involved with this campaign? What makes you so passionate about it?

Russell Simmons: It’s the same reason I’m here today. Because I believe passionately in the president’s vision and I believe that a lot of the people, that are going to be disenfranchised, are going to be people who are going to be voting for the president. We all know that there was absolutely no fraud… that whole idea is a fraud; the idea was to disempower more the middle class and underserved communities. And so it was easy to join.

FIUSM: You have said in previous interviews that poor people are the first ones to be suppressed when it comes to voting? Why and how so?

Simmons: Well, I mean all of America. When people are not given the opportunity to be competitive, or not being educated properly or don’t have health care, that affects everyone, no one escapes. No one escapes this idea that corporations benefit in special interests. Any person who has a heart knows we should be responsible, we should give all Americans health care, they should know this. We should give people the chance to be part of the American dream. So I think that if people were more educated, they would vote for the president. It’s that simple.

FIUSM: Many students say they don’t want to vote because the system is flawed, that both political parties are corrupted? Do you agree? How would you defend your point?

Simmons: I think there is a dramatic difference between the candidates, and when we say it doesn’t matter, we always find out later that it did. I remember people saying that Al Gore and Bush were the same, and then the war came and it destroyed our economy. This is something that Al Gore wouldn’t have promoted. It affected everybody. It affects our education today. It affects our health care today. It affects everything we do today… If you’re a woman, an equal salary is important. if you’re gay, “don’t ask don’t tell” is a statement to the world and the president speaking about gay marriage is a statement to the world. These are things we have to fight for…that can be solved through the presidencies and through Congress.

FIUSM: Do you think that social issues such as gay rights, immigration, etc. should be a priority to the country, instead of the economy?

Simmons: The economy is a funny thing. I’m a business guy. I hire somebody for a dollar and I hope their work makes our company $1.50. I pay taxes after. I don’t hire a guy based on a tax break, so that’s misinformation. If you give a rich guy a tax break, he’ll give more jobs. Well that’s not true. It’s a very important point, it’s not true. Empowering rich people with more corporate welfare is a very bad choice for America. So the president and his statement about campaign finance and reforms and his statement about wanting a real democracy…matter to me a lot.

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