Summary: This post asks if the project to reform America is not just futile but misguided. Yesterday’s post explained how American’s political system has become dysfunctional from the conflict for control between the upper middle class (the professional and managerial classes I call the “outer party”) and the 1% and its allies (especially the wealthy and leadership classes I call the “inner party”). Today we follow this reasoning to its surprising but logical conclusions. Leave your reaction in the comments. {1st of 2 posts today.}
“Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. … The fate of our world may depend on the effort of a single person who builds or propagates the machinery of freedom that makes the world safe for capitalism.”
— Peter Thiel (Silicon Valley billionaire) in “The Education of a Libertarian“, CATO Unbound, 13 April 2009. You’ll seldom here the voice of the 1% more clearly.
(1) What happens if the 1% wins?
The great challenge of the 1% will be maintaining social cohesion under their rule. We must feel that their rule is legitimate even if runs against our interests. Medieval kings did this with the support of the Church, convincing the people of the divine right of kings.
I suspect they will rely on two pillars of popular support. The social conservatives are the equivalent of the European right-wing parties’ “throne and altar” alliance, who give their support in exchange for mostly symbolic support. Libertarians provide a second pillar, who will cheer as the 1% strip mine America and social mobility declines from its already low level — and give their support to the 1% in exchange for almost nothing.
Life will continue under their rule, with few changes. It will be more difficult and insecure for us; it will be more fun for the 1% (i.e., they’ll have more power). We of the outer party will still read the news, cheering our tribe and booing the others — staying well-informed, although eventually we’ll no longer remember why we bother.
They will eliminate much of the regulations on people’s behavior, for good or ill, because they don’t care what the masses do. Their rule could be stable for a long term.
(2) Results of their rule: three scenarios for our future
“Nothing is written.”
— Lawrence of Arabia, in the movie.
Yesterday’s post ended another series about ways to reform America. I also revised the Reforming America references page (with links to all 53 posts on this subject), improving its organization. When doing so I realized that the assumption on which the entire project rests might be wrong, and it might eventually deserve to go on the Smackdowns Page.
I assume that we — the America’s people and our political regime (the Second Republic, founded on the Constitution) — would do better if we roused ourselves from our torpor and reasserted control over the nation’s governmental machinery. What if I’m wrong?
There is a second scenario. The 1% believes that they are better suited to rule than us. Perhaps we have decayed so much that they are correct. What if a nation run by and for the 1% will be more secure, stable, and prosperous than one ruled by the rabble they believe us to be? I explored this theory in 2011: Our fears are unwarranted. America is in fact well-governed and The good news: America’s politics are neither polarized nor dysfunctional. That’s also the bad news.
Let’s take this one step further. What if deep in our hearts we believe this to be true? That would explain our passivity during the past 30 years as the 1% gained strength. Perhaps we have accepted rule by the 1% as inevitable. If this theory is correct we will continue to devolve from citizens into subjects, freeing ourselves from responsibility for America’s deeds and its future. I wonder how many Americans have already made that transition. Many? Most?
Eventually a future generation will take the next stage of adaptation to the new regime. They’ll abandon the pretense of being a Republic and frankly embrace the plutocracy.
There is a third scenario, that our children or grandchildren will take up the burden we’ve dropped and struggle to regain control of America. Their task will be more difficult after our years of dereliction, but victory is likely if they’re willing to pay for it. That will be an adaptation, showing the vitality of our society.
We will be what we want to be. The coming years will reveal what that is.
(3) For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about the decay of the Second Republic and those about ways to reform America — paths to a new politics. See these posts about how the 1% see us:
- How do our leaders see us? Don the shoes of the 1%. Look down on the 99%. Describe the view.
- A tale of New America: a billionaire plays with his employees & shareholders.
We see the rise of the 1% and the new political regime they’re building:
- Why Americans should love Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – we live there.
- We’ve worked through all 5 stages of grief for the Republic. Now, on to The New America!
- Compare our New America to the America-that-once-was (a great nation).
- Glimpses of the New America being born now.
- An Independence Day special report: I have seen the New America!
- Billionaires mold our schools to produce better help in a New America.
- Another view of New America: inequality, low social mobility, rising heroin use. Fun, but not for all.
- Why don’t we see the New America being built around us?