Elitist

2008 was the year for the word "elitist." It was the battle cry of the Republican political machine, leading us to wonder when they became so populist. How dare they expect us to stand for the degradation of having our government fall into the hands of educated and rational people, er, in other words "Elitists!" At one time, being called elite was not an insult. It meant that you were the best, or the pick. Sometimes it was used to describe the conspicuously wealthy. Voltaire was an elitist. He believed that the general masses were far too undereducated and stupid to take the helm of governance. He felt that the business of governance needed to be guided by those whose education and experience gave them a cause as well as the tools for deep consideration of political philosophy. How many guys down at the docks have read Machiavelli, for example. Do you suppose that "Joe the Plumber" was familiar with Hegel and Locke? How many congressmen and senators do you suppose are familiar with them? Do you suppose it matters?

Yes. If you insert Jethro into a position of power alongside a well-read and thoughtful Machiavellian, and expect him to do anything other than become another pawn in the game of power brokering, you need to wake up. Coming at it from the other side, being a moron is not an indicator of honesty. Some of the most dishonest people I can think of came from humble beginnings and were never really educated. There's a reason we prefer to make nighttime ATM withdrawals in a nicer neighborhood.

In many ways, I consider myself a "populist." For example, I like the idea of socialized health care. (I'll approach that one in a different post.) I, however, hold no idealistic view about the abilities and motivations of the masses when it comes to wielding political power. Power corrupts. Sudden power when you've never had it corrupts absolutely. The world needs ditch-diggers too. Now if you want to have a conversation about why the ditch-digger can't have a house and a car and send his kid to college... But, I digress.

This year was a very big year in the history of the word "elitist." Its meaning was battered by politicians, reporters, and ultimately the general population. Its sound became a hiss emanating from the fearful and confused corners of middle America. "That man expects me to elevate my conversation above the level of Jerry Springer and Pat Robertson. - He must be an elitist, if he's not going to dummy-down everything he says to the third-grade level adopted by the nation's newspapers so that my undereducated ass can understand it." "She talks just like me, and apparently doesn't understand our system of government any better than I do. She must be for the people, because she's definitely of them. She's a populist in a $150,000 dress!"

So, to the word "elitist," I offer to you the thanks of our people for making yourself so abundantly available for use by everyone, and likewise let me offer the apologies of our people for the years it's going to take for you to have any meaning at all again. You've had your fifteen minutes of fame. Congratulations.

Bill Gates and God

"How can you have order in a state without religion? For, when one man is dying
of hunger near another who is ill of surfeit, he cannot resign himself to this
difference unless there is an authority which declares "God wills it thus."
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping people quiet."
-Napoleon Bonaparte

I have been spending the last weekend trying to come to terms with how I feel about Bill Gates' recent retirement. He's leaving Microsoft in order to devote his full time to philanthropy. Whatever that means. He's amassed a fortune in his first 52 years that most countries on this earth only wish they had. Countries! Now, he's going to devote his time to giving away his money (well, part of it anyway). I certainly don't want to be one who looks the gift horse in the mouth, because anything he does with his money is better than what he was doing with it, but it leaves me feeling all empty inside. The world is certainly more connected than it was before Microsoft pioneered e-mail, made a PC run like a Mac, and presented to us easy to understand and operate office applications. I certainly would never try to take away the accomplishments of Bill Gates and Microsoft. Is the world a better place? If it is, for whom? If it isn't, why isn't it?

My problem stems from the fact that while he was amassing this great fortune, 35-40% of us who were also working, couldn't even afford health care, and still can't. While he was bringing in one the greatest incomes in recorded history, entire countries could have eaten for years from the same amount of money that he made in one. Does that make him responsible? Probably not. Does that make him a contributing factor? You betcha. But, my fellow Americans, so are we.

We have, as Americans, been raised to believe three things that take precedence over everything else. First, we are raised to believe that Capitalism is the only system that works and has a conscience. We aren't taught that it only works for a few of us, because that would take away from the message that you have to protect this system because in a "free" country, it could be you on the top making the billions of dollars per year, and you must protect your right to hoard by protecting the rich now. I think to myself, "Does anyone really believe that anymore?" The truth is, yes they do! This becomes a question of "faith" because it is to be believed without the nuisance of having to have evidence to support it. The second basic premise is that we are taught that "might is always right." The United States, like many other nations, is essentially a history of the powerful exploiting the powerless. It began on the first boat ride and continued through... um, what time is it now? Many with whom I've tried to converse with about this very subject simply respond with, "Hey, more power to him!" Really? More power to him? I thought that we were supposed to be against royalty! The last thing Bill Gates needs is more power. "Relax, Rick, it's only a figure of speech." It's exactly those kinds of "figures of speech" that keep the huddled masses huddling. We protect the powerful as a matter of duty. Remember how the "huddled masses" came to Gates' defense when the government tried to break his monopoly? It reminded me of how those same people came to the defense of Ollie North. How dare the government (that would be...oh yeah, us) come down on a powerful man who abuses it? Culturally, we have not only found ourselves coming to the defense of abuses of power(money) but we've come to expect the abuses. I like to think that it's not the empathy that comes with believing that we would do the same thing if placed in his position. After all, he's going to make things better now, right?

The third premise deserves its own paragraph. We are a culture rigorously steeped in religion. Yeah, we say "separation of church and state" until someone actually tries to enforce it. Then we're a "Christian nation". The quote by Napoleon at the beginning says it all. We've come to expect ourselves to be dirty, tired, and poor because God tells us that's how we're supposed to be. To stand for yourself goes against all of religiosity. To point out that if guys like Bill Gates actually gave back (officially) to the nation according to what he's managed to receive from it, we'd all be better off is pure heresy. God expects His (and especially the churches') followers to be slaves in this life, so we'll be better slaves for eternity. In this manner, God has taught us to be better slaves for tyrants. Is Bill Gates a tyrant? Well, has he used his money over the years to help out, or to further promote his own wealth? Has he ensured through his wealth that those who labored to bring him his wealth have made enough money and had enough benefits to live comfortably and in health? We know how many millionaires have been created by Microsoft, but what about the mail-room guys and the janitors and the secretaries? Would the religious of the world find him charitable before he began his foundation a few years ago, or would they simply be defending him on the grounds of "God's will?"

Look, I don't have the answers. I'm not sure I've even got the questions right yet. If I had my way, once these guys surpassed the Billion Dollar mark, we'd just give them a "you made it" card good for commerce without the need for cash backup. The card would be good for three generations. Then we could as a nation reclaim all that cash and maybe all that extra money lying around actually would make this a better place for us all. (I think my next blog might address the idea of "making the world a better place.") Let me hear what you think.