Blog 396 – 09.06.2016

There is a myth of Individualism popularized in Western thought by many and notably by Ann Rand in her books The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged. These two books were written in the nineteen fifties and are quite popular with those who believe in this myth of the powerful individual industrialist, manufacturer, financier, or entrepreneur whose desire for power and profits always insures the public good and needs no oversight by government. I believe the founders of our Republic had no such illusions about the individual or group ethic but set up a Constitution of checks and balances not only on government but even on popular sentiment knowing that rich, powerful, and even charismatic individuals can and have often swayed public opinion to the detriment of the greater good.

For years I have heard people complain about the Electoral College deciding the U.S. Presidential election. I, too, was one of them but after reading the recently released book by Joseph J. Ellis, Quartet: Orchestrating The Second American Revolution. 1783 – 1789. I think I understand better what the founders of the Second American Revolution had in mind with the Electoral College. It seems they were not such fans of unchecked democracy but feared it might undo the Republic as quickly as the opposing interests of the states had almost done. They had in mind setting up a large strong Republic that would not be easy pickings for foreign powers nor easily taken over from within  by any individual or special interest groups no matter how popular.

Many people believe this country was founded as a Christian nation but that just is not so. The framers of our Constitution knew too well the problems that any state religion can cause and so purposely put in place a wall between church and state to prevent any one religious group from forcing their beliefs onto others. Historically Protestants and Catholics, both claiming to be Christians, have been no kinder than Muslims, Jews, or any other religious group when in charge and trying to force their dogma upon others.

The Electoral College like the balance of powers, separation of church and state, and layer upon layer of filtering government were all intended to make changes to the new republic slow and deliberate. And even then to be made by only the best and most cooperative minds of the day which would hopefully result in continuing the goal of a more perfect union and in the greater good for each and all. Oh, there have been obuses of power and special interest groups and powerful individuals that have attempted to hijack the country. We even had a Civil War that pitted brother against brother, as all wars do, that ripped the country apart for four years

When the Constitution was being discussed slavery was the big elephant in the middle of the room that nobody wanted to mention because the whole enterprise of creating a more perfect union was still such a fragile dream that the argument over slavery could have easily killed it forever. There was some side discussion of ending slavery in twenty years. Most honest people saw the shameful error of thinking some people mattered more than others. Still slaves were counted as three quarters of a person for representation in Congress purposes. Not the most glowing moment in American history and an error that only postponed a Civil War barely sixty years later. This error of thinking one group or some groups less has even yet resulted in the aggrieved descendants of slaves starting a Black Lives Matter movement more than two hundred years later. Many white people are offended by this movement but I think that it is because they miss the point when the say all lives matter or blue lives matter. The point is no lives matter more or less than others yet it remains painfully obvious that some people still think that some lives do. To say even subtly that educated people are best, religious people are best, or whatever measure one might use to express that anyone or any group is better than another belies the greater truth that we are all the same and One in the same. And it is that sure and certain knowledge of that eternal truth that is the hope of our Perfect Union here and hereafter.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White