What would you consider to be a proper way for the government and society of the United States to operate? For the purposes of this post, I have to assume that pragmatism is the only ideology that can serve the needs of Americans. A simple, straightforward practicality of understanding the problems in society and exploring possible solutions without the taint of dogma. The various "isms" in the last 100 years or so have rendered dogmatic rigidity a sure path to destructive consequences; communism, free market conservatism, fascism, militarism, religious fundamentalism and others. Liberalism certainly can exhibit dogmatic rigidity as well, but I have a harder time nailing these aspects down. For the simple reason that liberalism has taken so many different paths and mutated into so many new forms that it is hard to point a finger at one. It is also difficult for a partisan to self-diagnose too, which may explain why liberals today cannot find a consensus position on what to do. The situation in the US today is grave, getting worse and neither side seems to have a clue as to arresting the downward spiral.
It is starting to become obvious that we need an adult in the room, some element that can separate the children and punish the bullies. An element that could represent that national interest over the various special interests. Something that partisans could appeal to for purposes of nation-building from a particular point of view. What I am going to suggest is deeply unsettling to a committed democratic republican like myself, who feels self-government and self-determination are an entrenched and inalienable right for a free people. But here goes, the United States needs a nobility, and even a monarchy. Some element above the petty factionalism and tribalism and oligarchic self-destructive tendencies that are at the core of our decline.
I believe that a de facto nobility already exists, but they act more like robber barons than a responsible and yes, conservative, force grounding what is good in our society. The corporate elite, bankers, and old money families hoovering every scrap of wealth to themselves have no responsibility toward the commonwealth. It is Veblen's leisure class on steroids. But if there was some title or symbol that would seem more desirable than crass lucre, it may not have to be thus. As it stands, the extremely wealthy Americans have nothing to aspire to beyond simple accumulation, and if they can increase their score at the expense of the commoners, that is what they are going to do. There is simply nothing in our system as it stands that can replace this. The old saying "what can you get for the man who has everything?" Has been definitively answered, "more."
It is not as though titles are incompatible with a republic, Roman patricians went to great lengths though acts of charity and service to get various titles, which greatly benefitted the commonwealth. If the elite of America could compete over titles, "Duke of New York, Baron of Kings County, knighthoods" and so on instead of simply where you rank on the Forbes' 400 list, we might get past this relentless crushing of the middle class and all the other evils. What has taken its place? A corporation contributes a fraction of the cost for a new stadium and gets to have its name on it in perpetuity?
I have lost faith in the ability of people in the aggragate to choose leaders wisely, propaganda, demoguagery, and the simple vicious pace of modern life make it too hard for a critical mass to affect change. Although mechanics of bestowing titles is beyond the scope of this proposal, it would have to spring from existing organizations, lots of them, agreeing to knight a de facto aristocrat for clear and continued demonstrations of good works. Great wealth would be a prerequiste, and hereditary transfer of titles a no no. It is a fundamental fact that fortunes are made on the backs of many others, and in any case they already exist, conferring titles would be a way to spread that wealth back. As it stands, there is no way for society to make a claim on great fortunes, and if so-called conservatives succeed in eliminating the estate tax, even that small check on generational transfer will be lost.
Would the financial magnates go for it? Well, maybe not all of them but the score-keeping aspects of the elite leisure class may kick in if all of a sudden they have to start referring to "Sir Warren Buffett" or "Count Bill Gates" at country clubs. I would certainly rather see the evil koch brothers chase a knighthood by building something other than astroturf political pressure campaigns, but that's just me. The guy that wrote the Dilbert comics once wrote an essay arguing that society might get ahead if the rich could trade money for time, paying a premium to travel on a commercial flight without waiting in lines and so forth. Instead of fighting the tide of big money corrupting politics, perhaps it is time for us commoners to find a more productive way to spread the wealth. Big money has succeeded in turning most attempts at good government against the commonwealth by capture and redirection.
The democrats, bless their pointy little heads, seem in some cases to be trying to act as a responsible conservative force against the immature, greedy fanaticism of republicans but not getting there because from president obama on down they want to be above partisanship. If there was a class of nobles that really were above politics, perhaps we could have two opposition parties again instead of one party of bewildered morons and another of fanatics willing to kill the hostages they keep taking. A nobility may be the only way to bring some sense of shame back to what republicans do, no one can call them the idiot ideologues they are without it being diluted by partisan interest. What if boehner and mcconnell had to make their case for destroying society, honestly, to a monarch representing all the people?
Aside from superman swooping in to put the fanatics in their place and using force or the threat of force to coerce some of the selfishness out of the system, I don't see much hope for returning to a pragmatic era where America could be truly great again. Nobility could serve some function in this return, it certainly couldn't hurt, if the alternative is continued decline, severe partisanship and the apotheosis of greed and selfishness.
No comments:
Post a Comment