America's political aristocracy

Let’s face it; our Founding Fathers were aristocrats, men of means and power. Many were as well educated as one could be in those days. The battle with Great Britain pitted our aristocracy against royalty to whom our aristocrats were formally beholding.

Commoners provided the army aristocrats needed to defeat the British. When the Founding Fathers sat down to craft our Democratic Republic and our Constitution, something came over them and they produced ideas and values that truly empowered “commoners.”

Yet, today, aristocrats still hoard the wealth and pretty much control the economy. Capital makes kings and we have kingdoms today in the form of corporations, bankers, and wealthy individuals. Is that good or bad?

An intellectual and elitist view would say that the most intelligent and able individuals will ultimately acquire and amass the majority of the wealth. That view is also supported by the factual outcome.

In the American System there is also a value for shared responsibility. Individuals are responsible for self-reliant pursuit of individual independence. Leaders are responsible for providing ever expanding opportunities for employment and upward mobility.

• Capital that has been accrued by individuals, institutions, and managers are in partnership with government to optimize return on national resources.
• People have a responsibility to work with elected officials to keep government expense in line with needs and capacity to serve them.
• People and elected officials work with free enterprise to create the optimal environment for growth and prosperity.

So long as society’s leaders in commercial and government enterprise attend the greater needs of society, everything is copasetic. When people become impoverished and unable to achieve self-reliance that is an indication of failed leadership.