Why are we not more pissed off with the DeVos family regarding the shit show that is the Trump Administration?
For anyone who is really paying attention to what the Trump Administration has been doing over the past two weeks, it is likely to elicit feelings of anger, depression, frustration and a lack of hope.
While I have been experiencing some of the same feelings, I also have been trying to make distinctions between rhetoric and reality. Trump is a master at rhetoric, but often his rhetoric is not real or even factual. I believe his rhetoric is both ideological, which is meant to speak to his base, but it is also a means to elicit responses from those who have not completely been propagandized……those who haven’t yet drank the KoolAid.
As someone who tries to pay attention to history and learn from it, I am reminded that this is not the first time that members of the Capitalist Class, even those who are billionaires, have inserted themselves into electoral politics. In fact, as Howard Zinn and other radical historians have pointed out, the US political class has been dominated by the Capitalist Class from the very founding of this country, both in terms of campaign financing and running as political candidates.
The group Americans for Tax Fairness published a report late last year, where they documented the 150 families who spent the most during the 2024 Election cycle, with three quarter of the money going to the Republican Party, candidates and Political Action Committees. This same group also published a useful spreadsheet on these 150 families, which you can find here.
If you look down the last, you will see the DeVos family listed at number 49. The combined about of money that the DeVos family members contributed to the GOP in the 2024 Election cycle was $7,038,500.00. The spreadsheet lists 9 different DeVos names, but Betsy and Elizabeth are the same person, as is Cheryl and Suzanne. This is because they both make campaign contributions using different names they go by.
What follows are detailed campaign contributions from the DeVos family members cited in the Americans for Tax Fairness report. The data comes from Open Secrets.
So why are we not confronting the DeVos family?
Considering the fact that the DeVos family is number 49 of the 150 families from the Capitalist Class in the US that contributed over $7 million to the GOP in the 2024 election cycle, it would be safe to say that they are the member of the Billionaire Class in Grand Rapids that is most responsible for the new Trump Administration locally.
If we acknowledge this fact, then why are there no protests and no rage being directed at the DeVos family? Why are we not organizing a campaign to expose them and to undermine their comfort? What is it going to take before we take action action the people who have imposed upon us this nightmare reality we find ourselves in?
Taxing the rich is a nice sentiment, but that is really low hanging fruit. We need to make members of the Billionaire Class, like the DeVos family, feel uncomfortable and let them know that we will not tolerate their efforts to expand their wealth while so many in this community are just trying to survive. The DeVos family directly contributed to making sure that Donald Trump became President again. Why are we not more pissed off about this family?
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 
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