We, the people of what?
ARE WE A GROUP OF INDEPENDENT STATES established under and united by an agreement of co-terminous sovereignty existing at the intersection of federal and state authority? Are we a democracy or a republic? Can either exist under such an ordering of competing state and federal authority? Are we some hybrid of both, a democratic republic?
In his book The Republic, Plato asks whether a society ruled by a tyrant can be called a republic. Inasmuch as res publicameans property of the people, Plato answers,
For [in such a society] all are oppressed by the cruelty of one, and there is no bond of justice whatever, nor any agreement of partnership among those gathered there, though this is part of the definition of a people… Therefore, wherever a tyrant rules…we really have no republic at all… But when the multitude inflicts punishment on whomsoever it wills, when it seizes, plunders, retains, and wastes whatever it will…, the name of a republic is no more applicable to the despotism of the multitude…, because there can be nothing more horrible than that monster that falsely assumes the name and appearance of a people (The Republic, 3.31.43, 45).
Our founding fathers were strong advocates of republican principles of governance and rejected democracy outright as giving rise to populism and, by extension, mob rule. Through the lens of their inexperience and limited vision of government, they viewed democracy as “anarchy lite,” threw the baby out with the bath water, and raced pell-mell toward governance under a republican form. They did, however, throw a bone to advocates of democracy when they approved the Great Compromise, giving “we the people” the appearance of being empowered by directly electing our members to the House of Representatives. How has that worked out in the age of hyper-partisan gerrymandering?
The United States government is now controlled by a cabal of fascists who are empowered by an anarchist minority—the MAGA cult. In true fascist form, its leaders purposely lie to their allies and enemies alike, the former to make them believe in their purpose, the latter because they don’t think they deserve the truth…if they cared. They confuse, obfuscate, and deny facts; create false narratives; foment fear; and play on emotions. These are the classic defining traits of fascist leaders and the way fascism operates to stay in control.
Don’t beg me to help save our democracy until you can name what it is we are saving it from and answer, “We, the people” of what?
