Coming out of Independence Hall that muggy day in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was accosted by an elderly woman. Her question? “What kind of government have you given us, Mr. Franklin?”
“A republic, Madam; if you can keep it,” was his famous reply. One might have wondered then about his pessimism. Certainly the debate had been vigorous, but Madison had helped to hammer out a system of separate powers, checking and balancing each other which seemed to offer a brighter future than old Ben foresaw.
Had he been thinking about the inevitable result of expansion of the franchise to younger, less educated, more emotional demographic chunks of the nation? Was he worried that there would be drift from the slightly elitist republic which restricted the sway of the masses and offered guidance from the experienced and mature leadership of the country? Did he know that one day we would see this:
Too Dumb For Democracy
Sadly, I think he did. What might be viewed as even more sad is that even without the democratization of America, the experienced and mature leaders that Ben had been surrounded with have also been dissipated. One need only listen to the members of our Congress spout mindless talking points in front of any camera that points their way to know that the situation is approaching hopelessness.
Then I see this:
What Should I Do About Chavez, George?
I’ve lived through Fonda and Baldwin, Streisand and Penn and even Bono. They tower intellectually over the current generation that came with Paris and Britney, Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers sought out for their opinions. And, they were already scraping a pretty deep barrel’s bottom!
Will we elect a President of these United States who seeks foreign policy advice several times a week from movie stars and 300 advisors? Couldn’t we get a few PhDs and former governmental leaders with international relations experience in the mix? Probably not.
Ben, I’m deathly afraid that we won’t be able to keep it. Your pessimism was merited.
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