The Futility of the Elite

Imagine the suspense of those who waited outside Independence Hall as the Constitutional Convention of 1787 took place in secrecy to determine what form of government our fledgling country would adopt. When the proceedings ended and the framers emerged there was no cable news to provide 24 hour coverage of what had just happened. No, the news was delivered up close and personal, “Well, Doctor,” a Mrs. Powel called out to Benjamin Franklin, “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin’s famous response came without hesitation, “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”.

Consider the gravity of what Franklin was saying. For one thing, he understood that a republic was something that had to be “kept”, and that keeping it might just prove to be difficult. On another occasion Dr. Franklin would comment on how only a virtuous populous can be expected to keep a republic, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”. Understand that with Franklin’s simple admonition to Mrs. Powel, he identified whose responsibility it would be to keep this government based on freedom and self-governance. He could have instead said “we”, in reference to the framers, the men whose genius had developed this Constitution. Who better to “keep” the republic than those who had created it, and those similarly elite intellectuals who would follow them? But no. Benjamin Franklin said “you”, and this to a woman who could not so much as even cast a vote.

With his response, Franklin reflected the humility of the framers which has all but vanished in today’s politicians. These great men understood that they were but the representatives of a far greater force, and began their seminal document with the words that reflected that truth, “We the People…”. Today’s politician sees “the people” as at once the means by which they retain power, and simultaneously as obstacles to the free exercise of that power; a mob that must somehow be bent to the will of the ruling elite. Increasingly we are given the choice between two groups of elites who want the monarchy, or oligarchy, and we are to select which we want to be ruled by. Our leaders have largely lost the concept of what self-governance means, and the citizenry is following their lead… a republic is hard to keep! If we are indeed losing the republic, then we are also losing the power that has made this country great. The participation and collective energy of a self-governed people who pursued goodness and freedom has raised us in our short history to be a force for good in the world. That we no longer seem to be that, is evidence that our light is failing. The elites believe that the force of their genius surpasses the power of an enlightened and united people. It does not. We are seeing in our cities, in our economy, and the world at large, the futility of the elite. As they struggle at the foundry of their central planning to “reform the world nearer to the heart’s desire”, the world only falls to pieces.

Lest we point the finger of blame at these arrogant fools who think themselves equal to the governance of God’s creation, remember that the keeping of the republic was not left to them, it was left to us. It was left to us, and we have nearly lost it. We have gone from a time where people waited outside Independence Hall to look their representatives in the eye and ask them questions, to a time where people sat in their isolated living rooms looking into the CBS eye and passively watching the world go by. We have left a void where our participation should have been, but perhaps we have begun to awaken just in the nick of time. If a few now understand, they are not the new elite, they are the first fruits of the harvest to come. Don’t fall into the same trap that others have found, the belief that the masses are dullards who cannot be enlightened, and that somehow your flavor of elitism will save the world where others have failed. When that first Constitutional Convention seemed doomed to failure as the elite framers each pushed for their own conflicting grand ideas, it was Benjamin Franklin again who humbly brought the light to find the way for America’s destiny,

Thereafter the framers began each day of the proceedings with a prayer for God’s guidance, a tradition that continues to this day, in practice if not in earnest. Here was group of some of the most politically literate men of their time (or any other time) who humbly realized that they were not on their own equal to the task of forming this new government, and even less able to sustain it. It is a humility we and our representatives in Washington would do well to emulate.

IMHO: The governance of this nation is to find it’s origin not in the halls of the Capitol, but in the hearts of it’s citizenry. In so many ways we have fallen into slumber by the comfort of our blessings. Life fades and the glory of the Republic is falling away. We have been provided with one last saving grace. The isolation of the “Television Age” where all seemed to become spectators who simply looked away or changed the political channel when they didn’t like what they saw is coming to a close. We now understand that being a spectator is not enough, and government cannot operate simply on Nielson ratings. Our vote is the smallest of our tools in the keeping of our republic. This is the day of interactive media, social networks, e-mail and blogging. We can figuratively look each other in the eye on a daily basis to encourage, educate, coordinate, and organize. Beyond this, the virtual network needs to then move toward a physical one with town meetings, gatherings of patriots, and outreaches to the community. Our virtual networks are a powerful tool, but besides the time spent on our keyboards, we must also spend time in the streets, and on our knees. If we are to stop the death spiral of this grand experiment of self-governance and wrest the control from the futility of elitist tyrants, then we must be active participants calling to our comrades to join us. …What have we got, a republic or a monarchy? …”A republic… if you can keep it!”