The One, the Only . . .

Score: Rabble 1, Elite 0

You know all the talk about how the “elite” are in charge and ruining the country has been making the rounds among all the (elite) media, talking heads and politicians, right? Well, I thought it was about time to see how this charge is holding up now that this “deplorable” campaign season is over. Here’s how I see it:

Essentially, the elite gave us Hillary. Now you can love her or you can hate her but the fact is that she was a deeply flawed and unpopular candidate; it may not be totally fair but she lost and there you have it. Despite her resume, in a normal election there is NO WAY she should ever have been a candidate.  However, she was clearly the candidate that the elite (at least on the Democrats side) wanted. And they got her.

On the other side, the rabble (sorry, can’t think of a better name for the opposite of elite) gave us The Donald. Despite the herculean efforts of the Republican elite to stop him, they had a candidate who, if he was running for dog catcher, would quickly be eliminated. “The people” wanted him and they got him.

So I ask you, who do you think is winning this abysmal race, the elite or the rabble? Put another way, did the rabble win or did the elite lose?

I am, as is often the case, a little confused. This time I am confused by the confusion that a lot of people seem to have about so called “elites.” I always thought of an elite as someone that is really good at what they do and that was a good thing - but now apparently it is a bad thing? That can’t be right, can it? Alrighty then, let’s talk common sense.

Would you rather watch a 13 handicap - say, me, for example - play golf?

(No, this isn't actually me -  thank God!)

Or would you rather watch Tiger Woods or Jordan Spieth?

You’re very kind but I would choose those guys – they are elite golfers.

            

Also, you never hear anyone who has any kind surgery done say, “Yeah, I had the guy who finished last in medical school do the procedure" (even if he really might have been.) Of course not, your doc is always the best, the elite! 

And was it just some average yahoo that figured out general theory of relativity? Noooo! Or how about the cure for polio? Nooo! And simple personal computers? Again, no.  

A lot of people love to drag out the Founding Fathers when they talk about freedom and independence and that the old boys (weren't no girls allowed) would be appalled with all the elites running things. Maybe so but it’s important to remember the Founding Fathers weren’t exactly a bunch of everyday farmers or day laborers (not that there is anything wrong with that.) No, they were the elite of the colonies. As an aside, there is this: usually revolutions are led by the underclass against the leadership. (hey not unlike this year’s presidential election!) That really wasn’t the case in the colonies, was it. I read somewhere once that our revolution wasn’t so much a revolution as it was really just a protest by the middle and upper classes - and elite - of the colonies against unfair laws i.e. essentially it was just about money. If the King had simply lightened up on taxes and rules there might not have ever been a revolution. (A large minority of the colonists were loyal to the crown.)  Dunno but something to think about when we worry about the elites.

On the other hand, that is not to say that something isn’t rotten in Denmark – or Washington DC. All the people in this country who are pissed off on the right and the left are correct that the government is no longer representing them. There are certainly elites involved in this mess but I think they are a different kind of elite. They are the money people who politicians have to suck up to get elected (and to hold on to their elite status themselves.) The lobbyists for big business, big unions - big money – who whisper sweet nothings to the party officials and candidates to influence everything that happens in the country. 

I guess you could say they have kind of turned the government into a gangster-like operation and it really sucks.

So what’s my point? I’m not sure. I guess my point is that we need to be careful when we rebel against the “elites.” We have famously become a country that has deep disregard of facts and science e.g immunizations, evolution, . . . flossing. And a distrust for anything that differs from our preconceived beliefs: liberals bad, conservatives dumb. What’s next, doubting gravity!?

This country from day one has depended to a certain, and probably, great extent on our elites to help us get through this self-governing thing. I mean, after all, the reason the founding fathers created the electors (now Electoral college) is because they didn’t really trust majority rule and, I suspect, the capabilities of the “average voter.” And I, for one, am also a bit hesitant to turn it over to the average, uninformed yoho to totally run things. (Any connection to recent electoral results is totally coincidental.)

We also don’t want to discourage the brightest among us from doing what they are best at whatever field it might be and that is to lead and innovate and be smart – we do NOT want the baby to go out with the wash!

What we need to do is find all those fake elites who are lurking behind the scenes and screwing up the country whether they are lobbyists, career politicians or billionaire trouble makers of all stripes and force them out. How? Other than change the Constitution to get money out of the equation, I’m not sure what to do. But maybe after this mess of on election and these totally unacceptable candidates for president the so called political elite will get the message that something has to change.

If not, who knows, it might be time for second – or real – American revolution by the average guy and let the chips fall where they may. If nothing else, what’s left except maybe a raffle or pull names out of hat.

Could it really be much worse than what we’ve got?