When Joe Biden, in his farewell address, said “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth…that threatens our entire democracy,” he repeated one of the most common complaints in American history. Americans have always imagined their nation as a universal democracy, and their greatest fear has always been concentrated power undermining that democracy.
This perspective, of course, assumes that any variant of “rule of the few” is illegitimate specifically because it is not universal. In the modern world, this is obvious to the point of banality. But that blinds us to how radical this position really is.
Government of, by, and for the people is not the historical norm. Most people throughout history—including the modern day—have little say in how they are ruled. Most people do not believe they are equal to their rulers.
Most people are lowly and accept their lowliness. They inherit this shame from their parents and will pass it on to their children.
This is the society America was before the Revolution. And the Revolution’s greatest triumph was overthrowing this national humility and creating a society where no one would ever “know their place” ever again. It instituted a radical ethos of equality that tore down every facet of hierarchy except its shallowest incarnation: wealth. And it created a religion of social mobility where wealth was both accessible and universal, and so, possessing it brought no distinction.
I’ve wanted to write this essay for years. My family comes from India, a place where this hierarchy of birth is omnipresent. America, to me, represents everything India is not, and it’s important to me that we recognize how radical and transformational our democratic project has been.
This essay draws heavily from two of Gordon Wood’s books, *The Radicalism of the American Revolution* and *The Empire of Liberty*, and I write this as a tribute to his work. Professor Wood died while I was writing this essay. It would be a boon for any country to have had their own Gordon Wood to tell their story, and we are very lucky to have had him to tell ours. May he rest in peace.
amanaplanacanalutica on
Me when I post bait b/c Aristotle won’t return my calls.
Edit: For the downvoter, this is a glib remark on the post title, with a joking implication that it’s meant to antagonize a long dead philosopher’s bunk theories of government and does not reflect a real position. No I will not be adopting the /s format.
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When Joe Biden, in his farewell address, said “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth…that threatens our entire democracy,” he repeated one of the most common complaints in American history. Americans have always imagined their nation as a universal democracy, and their greatest fear has always been concentrated power undermining that democracy.
This perspective, of course, assumes that any variant of “rule of the few” is illegitimate specifically because it is not universal. In the modern world, this is obvious to the point of banality. But that blinds us to how radical this position really is.
Government of, by, and for the people is not the historical norm. Most people throughout history—including the modern day—have little say in how they are ruled. Most people do not believe they are equal to their rulers.
Most people are lowly and accept their lowliness. They inherit this shame from their parents and will pass it on to their children.
This is the society America was before the Revolution. And the Revolution’s greatest triumph was overthrowing this national humility and creating a society where no one would ever “know their place” ever again. It instituted a radical ethos of equality that tore down every facet of hierarchy except its shallowest incarnation: wealth. And it created a religion of social mobility where wealth was both accessible and universal, and so, possessing it brought no distinction.
I’ve wanted to write this essay for years. My family comes from India, a place where this hierarchy of birth is omnipresent. America, to me, represents everything India is not, and it’s important to me that we recognize how radical and transformational our democratic project has been.
This essay draws heavily from two of Gordon Wood’s books, *The Radicalism of the American Revolution* and *The Empire of Liberty*, and I write this as a tribute to his work. Professor Wood died while I was writing this essay. It would be a boon for any country to have had their own Gordon Wood to tell their story, and we are very lucky to have had him to tell ours. May he rest in peace.
Me when I post bait b/c Aristotle won’t return my calls.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timocracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timocracy)
Edit: For the downvoter, this is a glib remark on the post title, with a joking implication that it’s meant to antagonize a long dead philosopher’s bunk theories of government and does not reflect a real position. No I will not be adopting the /s format.
Thank you for your consideration.