Summary: Brief review of the statement of Senator Mike Lee regarding his theory on Democracy, and historical references on how it doesn’t work.
Timestamp 1:58: Senator Mike Lee tweets that Democracy isn’t the objective but rather peace and prosperity. The goal is the flourishing of the human condition, rather than democracy. The founding fathers didn’t choose a democracy, but rather chose a Republic. The main difference would be that you can vote for a representative in a Republic, whereas you have a direct vote in a democracy. They choose a Republic not only because of the size of the territory but also because of the concerns regarding uneducated people involved in voting. The Electoral College was initially created to vote by District, rather than the current system that was put into place after the first election of “winner take all”.
Timestamp 7:58: In 1812 A president must be nominated through the members of his party. This opens the opportunity for a Congress to say to a candidate “We’ll support your nomination if you do ______.” This leads to conventions, which increases the ability for normal people to vote.
Timestamp 11:01: After Andrew Jackson, there was the land rush in the South East. The Natives were forced out and placed with the settlers who would grow cotton in their lands. Cotton proceeds to make the few very wealthy on the backs of the many, especially as they have the capability to grow what is called Long Staple Cotton. Those settlers have trouble grasping the concept of Democracy, and the lack of literature on it makes it easy to maintain the image that they are better than other people. This thought process infiltrated literature, churches and society, which planted the seed of Racial Injustice.
Timestamp 22:31: Most Southerners “own” one or two Slaves to work alongside them. These Southerners resent the few that take Slavery to excess, and the legislation that allow them to have many. When they are Presented with the human rights issues of Slavery, They cite the State Constitutions in fear of the Northerners interering with human rights and by default the economy of the South.
Timestamp 26:58: The Northerners push for the Federal government to do something about Slavery. The Division is highlighted when a large chunk of land was acquired from Mexico, which goes all the way to the Pacific. This puts into question the Missouri Compromise line, the lack of legal system in the new territories, and how the finding of gold factors in. The Fear is that if Slavery is permitted in the West, it will lead to monopolizing resources which will expand the divide of the have’s and have nots and squash any ability of the common man to move up.
Timestamp 36:20: South Carolina senator gives a speech in 1858 stating that that articulates his belief that A small group of people would be most successful at running society as they are more educated. The Lower ranks are good for only production, and the decisions are best made by the Wealthy. He Challenges the idea that putting resources at the bottom would even support economic growth.This idea is later adopted by Lincoln and proved successful.
Timestamp 43:08: The idea that some are better than others is spoken of again in the late 19th Century. At that time, people were having issues with the structure of Society at the time. This made them turn to the theory that hyper capitalism will ultimately collapse, leading in revolt by those who are affected, which leads to the government taking control of the means of production. This is now referred to as Socialism, and led the way to Marxism and Lenin. This makes people more receptive to Fascism in Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini, who later referred to the success the country had under socialism reign. This harps back to the thought that the few should be in charge of the many.
Timestamp 50:11 After 1981 there was a dramatic redistribution of wealth in favor of the rich, which was a cause of the detestment of the redistribution of wealth to help the people in need. They believe that people who offer social programs and a better quality of life, which is the reason they should not be able to vote because it would lead to Communist/ Socialist state.
[From wikipedia] Richardson’s first book, The Greatest Nation of the Earth (1997), stemmed from her dissertation at Harvard University. Inspired by Eric Foner’s work on pre-Civil War Republican ideology, Richardson analyzed Republican economic policies during the war. She contended that their efforts to create an activist Federal Government during the Civil War marked a continuation of Republican free labor ideology. These policies, such as war bonds and greenbacks or the Land Grant College Act and the Homestead Act, revolutionized the role of the Federal Government in the U.S. economy. At the same time, these actions laid the groundwork for the Republican Party’s shift to Big Business after the Civil War.
In this 2001 book, Richardson "focused on the “Northern abandonment of Reconstruction.” Building on the earlier work of C. Vann Woodward, she argued that a more complete understanding of the period required appreciation of class, not only race. As Reconstruction continued into the 1870s and especially the 1880s, Republicans began to view African Americans in the South more from a class perspective and less from the perspective of race that had driven their earlier humanitarianism. In the midst of the labor struggles of the Gilded Age, Republicans came to compare “the demands of the ex-slaves for land, social services, and civil rights” to the demands of white laborers in the North. This ideological shift was the key to Republican abandonment of Reconstruction, as they chose the protection of their economic and business interests over their desire for racial equality." [From wikipedia]
In this 2007 book, "Richardson presented Reconstruction as a national event that impacted all Americans, not just those in the South. She incorporated the West into the discussion of Reconstruction as no predecessor had. Between 1865 and 1900, Americans re-imagined the role of the federal government, calling upon it to promote the well-being of its citizens. However, racism, sexism, and greed divided Americans, and the same people who increasingly benefited from government intervention—white, middle-class Americans—actively excluded African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and organized laborers from the newfound bounties of their reconstructed nation." [from wikipedia]
In this book, published in 2010, Richardson "focused on the U.S. Army’s slaughter of Native Americans in South Dakota in 1890. She argued that party politics and opportunism led to Wounded Knee. After a bruising midterm election, President Benjamin Harrison needed to shore up his support. To do so, he turned to The Dakotas, where he replaced seasoned Indian agents with unqualified political allies, who incorrectly assumed that the Ghost Dance Movement presaged war. The Army responded by sending one third of its force in order to avoid spending cuts from Congress. After the event, Republicans tried to paint the massacre as a heroic battle to stifle the resurgent Democrats." [wikipedia]
In this 2014 book, Richardson "extended her study of the Republican Party into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book studied the entire life of the GOP, from its inception in the 1850s through the presidency of George W. Bush. The party’s founders united against the “slave power,” a small group of wealthy white men who controlled all three branches of government. These Republicans articulated a new vision of an America in which all hardworking men could rise. But after the Civil War, Republicans began to emulate what they originally opposed. They tied themselves to powerful bankers and industrialists, sacrificing the well-being of ordinary Americans. A similar process took place after World War II, when Republicans sought to dismantle successful New Deal policies and prop up the wealthy. However, in both cases, reformers within the party were able to return the GOP to its founding vision of equality of opportunity, first Theodore Roosevelt during the Progressive Era, and then Dwight D. Eisenhower, who enforced integration and maintained the New Deal. The Nixon and Reagan administrations have represented yet another fall from the GOP’s founding purpose. It's ironic, Richardson points out, that Republicans treated Barack Obama with an unprecedented level of disrespect, as Obama's rise from humble beginnings to the highest office in the nation embodied the vision of the original Republicans." [wikipedia]
In her most recent publication, Richardson argues "that America was founded with contradicting ideals, with the ideas of liberty, equality, and opportunity on one hand, and slavery and hierarchy on the other. United States victory in the American Civil War should have settled that tension forever, but at the same time that the Civil War was fought, Americans also started moving into the West. In the West, Americans found and expanded upon deep racial hierarchies, meaning that hierarchical values survived in American politics and culture despite the crushing defeat of the pro-slavery Confederacy. Those traditions--a rejection of democracy, an embrace of entrenched wealth, the marginalization of women and people of color--have found a home in modern conservative politics, leaving the tremendous promise of America unfulfilled." [wikipedia]
