The Ruling Class
America's First Ruling Class
We fought the Revolutionary War to extricate ourselves from the tyranny of the first American
ruling class, the British Monarchy. It's hard to realize now what a truly revolutionary idea
our founders had. Until that time, all civilizations were maintained by a class system, with
a large common class supporting a small elite ruling class that enjoyed perpetual privilege
and authority.
The founders of our nation had a different vision. They designed a system of government in
which everyday Americans would make a temporary contribution of their time to public service
and then return to their private lives. The idea was that the government should be a
reflection of the governed, "by the people and for the people". The intent was to
prevent an undue concentration of power in the hands of a few.
Today's Ruling Class
Despite the best efforts of the founders and contrary to their vision for the country, a
ruling class has emerged. It is lead by career politicians whose number one priority is
re-election. They solicit and welcome financial support from big business, unions and
special interests. In return they provide favorable legislation, regulation, tax breaks
and numerous other benefits at the expense of taxpayers.
Today's ruling class has lost touch with everyday Americans. They enjoy absolute power as
they are rarely voted out of office (see chart below). Slowly, but steadily, over time, the
rules and conditions have changed. The result: today's incumbent politicians enjoy an
overwhelming electoral advantage over their challengers (see the charts below).
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
History has shown that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The founders understood this well
and warned us repeatedly about this undeniable aspect of human nature.
Thanks to the Internet, the corruption of the ruling class is now visible to all who seek to
find it, but it is not necessarily presented in the news media. See the section on
"Corruption" and "Earmarks".
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