Before he gets into this comparison, he asks the question (more eloquently than I) whether common people have a place in governing or rather should there be a governing class. Surely there is evidence of people on both the right and the left who buy into the snobbery that only certain people are "qualified" for elected office.
I believe one of the biggest problems facing American governance today is the fact that we as a people rely too much on Government. This concept of governance lends well to the idea of a "governing class". I think we would all be better off if we had people who took time away from their careers to serve in Washington rather than people who choose to be career politicians.
Hayward finds the irony in the idea of a governing class:
The issue is not whether the establishment would let such a person as Palin cross the bar into the certified political class, but whether regular citizens of this republic have the skill and ability to control the levers of government without having first joined the certified political class. But this begs an even more troublesome question: If we implicitly think uncertified citizens are unfit for the highest offices, why do we trust those same citizens to select our highest officers through free elections?The more I think about it, the more I think I understand why the Palin pick enrages liberals and excites conservatives. In general, liberals believe that the means to a prosperous society are through a strong government, hence the idea that someone who is to lead a government should have years and years of political experience (Obama?). While conservatives inherently believe that when individuals are left to their own society will prosper.
It's not just that Palin lacks "experience" its the fact that she is a normal American who went to a no-name college that enrages the left. So, more than a few things there for people to comment on, but before you do I highly recommend reading Hayward's whole piece first.
5 comments:
It wouldn't be so hard for me to run the govenment, since I would fire almost everybody and eliminate most cabinet level departments.
(Kidding, but not too much)
Haha, I agree with those sentiments.
Yep,
The ruling class has been distinguished from the ruled. Bad news, because in a democracy, everyone is part of the ruling class, whether the elites like it or not.
The real bad news is that there is no going back. The scenario I fantasize about (See my first comment) is unworkable. No one will ever be able to do more than just trim the fat from the government, when what it needs is liposuction and a high colonic.
There's also this gem from David Brooks today:
"I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice. "
Snap!
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