Question: How does a democratic society operate in a modern world characterized by highly complex systems. Examples of such systems include the Economy, Science, Medicine, Transportation, International Relations and National Defense.
Answer: It functions through delegation. Initially, such delegation took the form of elected representatives and through federalism. Bit by bit over the last century, the important problems raised by increasing complexity, the “Seventy-Five Years War,” and the desire for truly national policies have expanded the delegation to subject-area Experts. Some of this “Expertise” is housed within the federal departments and agencies, some of it in semi-independent organizations, some in colleges and universities, and some of it in private bodies. Experts act as Stewards of these complex systems for the common good.
Question: What do the Experts get in exchange for operating their Stewardship?
Answer: “Honor, Power, Riches, Fame, and the Love of Women.”[1] All in moderation or, at least, the appearance of moderation. This is a version of the “Social Contract.”
Question: What happens if one party violates the “contract”?
Answer: The contract ceases to be enforceable on the other party.[2]
Question: Have the “Experts” violated the contract? It seems to me that they have and repeatedly and egregiously. There is a partial list of examples.[3]
Question: Has the mass of ordinary people violated the contract?
Answer: Maybe or Arguably, they have. I’ve thought about the “Experts.” They make an inviting target. I haven’t thought as much about ordinary people. I should. Off the top of my head—or my grievance pile—there are the following observations:
No one—regardless of social class or gender or sexual orientation, or ethnicity–wants to pay taxes, or serve in the military,[4] or serve on a jury.
Nobody seems to care about massive national debt that will lead to default.
We have an economy driven by the consumption of immense quantities of cheap garbage from Walmart, Amazon, and Apple.
The swelling numbers of people afflicted by obesity and Type II diabetes. These are afflictions of choice, even if that choice is manipulated by Big Food.
The educational decline manifested in falling standardized test scores.
The fascination with celebrities, athletes, musicians, and other louts.
Today’s “common man” as a far cry from the “common man” of Aaron Copland’s day.[5]
Yes, I know: Curmudgeon yelling at the rain. Doesn’t make me wrong.
[1] Sigmund Freud, quoted by Ward Just in the story of the same title in Ward Just, Twenty-One Selected Stories (1990).
[2] See: The Declaration of Independence.
[3] What Should You Read? | waroftheworldblog
[4] Well, since the creation of the “All Volunteer Force” at the end of the Vietnam War, about one percent of Americans have been willing to serve in the military. These were not the dregs of society the common imagination. Most often, they have been people from the South and West and often with some kind of family link to military service.
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