Episode discussion topics
How the power of faction can bring the demise of a republic. Ideology is never a good substitute for reasoned choice and is even worse when wielded by authoritarian bullies.
Just as Presidents Lincoln and Grant had feared, the greatest threat to our republic may be from within. Will we be able to maintain the people's hold on self-rule? Will we be able to have, as President Adams said, “A government of laws, and not of men.”
What have other republics looked like at the time of their demise?
Episode discussion topics
- How the power of faction can bring the demise of a republic. Ideology is never a good substitute for reasoned choice and is even worse when wielded by authoritarian bullies.
- Just as Presidents Lincoln and Grant had feared, the greatest threat to our republic may be from within. Will we be able to maintain the people's hold on self-rule? Will we be able to have, as President Adams said, “A government of laws, and not of men.”
- What have other republics looked like at the time of their demise?
- Consider the former Weimar Republic of Germany and how it enabled a party to come to power that converted it into a dictatorship. The heads of the conservative parties in power trusted that Adolf Hitler would not run amok and that he could be controlled. They were wrong.
- Julius Caesar was feared to be a tyrannical dictator with eyes on establishing a monarchy. He was assassinated by the fearful and a monarchy was established by his nephew. The fear brought about exactly what they feared. As it turned out, evidence was found that Julius had no intention of replacing the Roman Republic.
- Russia technically still is a republic, as is Iran as we mentioned before. Iran had a religious revolution, but how did Putin install himself for unlimited terms? Taking control of a party, rigging elections using fear and anger, and then changing the laws to keep him in power. This happened under our watch in our lifetimes.
- Not so far from home, these were also the sort of systems that used to exist in the good old days of the antebellum southern gentry. A time when patriarchy and slavery reined supreme. Confederate ideology was exported, seeded, and watered throughout the nation after the failure of Reconstruction. This culture is now in all states to more or a lesser degree.
- Somehow history has repeated itself along these lines on several occasions. In each case, the groups that identified with relatively conservative ideologies became most concerned with conserving their power. Ruled by greed, envy, and hate.
- Generational wealth creates a class of society that washes away its humanity over successive generations. They raise children in an environment relatively devoid of love and instead in its place is a concern for the nest egg. They become divorced from any sense of the human condition through a lack of empathy for the majority of people which is reinforced by being able to avoid even the most common hardships and adversity that are faced by the rest of us.
- Our whole system of governance was designed with checks and balances intended to thwart this dark capacity for evil that lurks within the malintent of those giving in to selfish desires, those who would usurp power from the people and retain it for themselves.
- As the majority of people do not have the advantages of being wealthy and of light complexion, we should be making reasoned choices from that perspective. The parties blind us to what is in common: Our republic and its capacity to support our common good through liberty and justice for us all.
- Calls to Action:
- Use your reasoned choice to set aside any dogma or ideologies for a moment and consider the facts of the matter and the people you choose to be your representatives. Avoid the narrowed-minded trap of single issues and consider the whole of your values and your existence as a human being.
- Do not allow the parties to control your choices, be your own person and make your own decision. Do your research and think for yourself. How can life be better for you that is also better for all of us? Let love and grace guide you in this examination.
- Do not vote against your best interests.
- Consider this: A wealthy person does not need to work for money. Their money works for them. Their time is their own to choose freely what to do.
- Multigenerational wealth tends to coddle fools the same as a monarchy would. They become cash cows for the buzzards in their midst.
- Why vote for a wealthy person who cannot fathom the difficulties, anxieties, and other stresses of the working class?
- Vote for freedom's sake, for republic's sake, and for the sake of our common good. We the people still have a chance to save our republic.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
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