Mob rule

There’s a natural tendency among Americans to think that democracy works. 

We were all brought up to believe that democracy best represents the will of the people.

It would, if everybody participated.  But not everybody does, so democracy here often reflects the will of a much smaller slice of the public – those motivated enough to be politically involved. 

However, even if everyone participated, the will of the people isn’t infallible.  Our founders knew this.  That’s why they attempted to engineer a balance of power in our government. 

The popularly elected Representatives reflected the will of the people.  Senators were selected by state legislatures to represent the interests of the states.  (This changed with the populist-inspired 17^th Amendment in 1913 which permitted direct election of Senators by popular vote.)

The President was elected not by the majority of the popular vote – which would be mob rule – but by an Electoral College.  This neat invention helped to ensure that every state would have a representative voice in the selection of a President; lesser known is that it also served as a last-ditch safety valve.   

Finally, the Supreme Court was created to be above all of this, with lifetime appointments for its members.  Its power was to interpret whether laws and regulations created by popularly-elected politicians conflicted with the Constitution of the United States. So the Supreme Court could invalidate and/or temper bad laws that, while popular, were unconstitutional. 

These were all attempts to minimize the impact of mob rule, and the tyranny of a majority empowered to take away the rights of the minority.  The founders deliberately tried to water down “pure” democracy so that the changing whims of a fickle and potentially self-serving public didn’t run roughshod over the intrinsic rights of others. 

They recognized, intuitively, that the public couldn’t always be counted on to do the right thing.  Lest we forget, slavery at one time had popular support in America, as did Prohibition, and laws against miscegenation.  Segregation didn’t end by popular vote. 

Nor could a popularly-elected Congress or President always be trusted to do the right thing. 

That why there’s a Constitution and a Bill of Rights.  Curiously, the Bill of Rights is almost exclusively about limiting what government can do.  In the eyes of the Anti-Federalists of the time, the Constitution gave too much power to a popularly-elected central government; the Bill of Rights tilted it back toward preserving individual and states’ rights.  

That’s enough of a history lesson.  The important thing to remember is that these were all carefully considered ideas designed to make us a nation of laws, not whims.  Most of all, everything was consciously engineered to hinder mob rule and especially to prevent anyone from gaining the powers of an absolute monarch. 

So where are we now? 

Despite the best efforts of the founders, we are increasingly moving toward mob rule.  And many would say that we already have a de facto monarchy. 

How did this happen? 

Well, an efficient and enduring democracy requires an informed and rational electorate. 

Candidly, the public is not that well informed.  Nor does the general public care to be; it’s too much work.  Also, politicians and the media have exacerbated the problem by dumbing down everything to a good vs. evil, black or white equation.  They’re not interested in educating the public; they realize that’s like trying to teach a pig to sing – it would waste their time and annoy the pig. 

So they take the path of least resistance.  They turn important issues into bite-size, more digestible morality plays; political soap operas where there are clearly defined heroes and villains.  Heroes are above reproach; villains are beneath contempt.  There are no gray areas – only black and white.  By design.  

Everybody talks about “low information voters.”  Truth is, most voters today fall into that category.  They might as well be getting their information from cartoons.  Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote seem to be the media’s model for political coverage, along with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. 

It’s easy to see who to root for.  One side’s clever; the other’s clueless.  That’s intentional. 

In reality, virtually none of today’s problems have simple solutions, no matter how clever one side or the other may be. 

The voting public generally doesn’t even understand the true nature and scope of the problems we face.  They don’t understand basic economics, much less domestic and global economics.  They don’t understand the debt ceiling, why inner city schools are failing, why gasoline costs what it does, or why food prices go up or down.   They’ve been conditioned to believe that somebody smarter than them has already figured this stuff out.  So they don’t need to worry about it anymore.  It’s handled. 

Politicians and the media know the public doesn’t want to be bothered with the details. So they tell the public what they want to hear, the facts be damned.  It suits politicians’ purposes better.  Because while an efficient and enduring democracy requires an informed and rational electorate, a mob doesn’t. 

Make no mistake, politicians prefer a mob. A mob is easier to inflame, manipulate and wield against opponents.  It can be used to intimidate adversaries because of its inherent volatility; it doesn’t take much to push a mob from protest to violence.  Most of all, it doesn’t care about facts; it only cares about what it feels is true.  In the hands of a demagogue it’s a powerful tool. 

It also gets media coverage, which makes a mob seem even bigger and important. 

Even the most brain-dead in Congress and the Administration know they can’t sway public opinion with facts and logic.  Much less get re-elected.  The public won’t stand for it; they want simple answers, simple solutions and someone to cheer and someone to boo.  They’re fans moved by passion and emotion, not reason and knowledge. 

Mob rule is taking over American politics.  It’s a demagogue’s dream come true. 

We’re seeing that now as the President and his administration are trying to overturn the balance of power in the government.  What he’s been unable to get through as legislation, he’s pushed through as regulations.  He’s bypassed the legislative process with Executive Orders.  He’s refused to execute the laws of the United States, as required by his oath of office, including laws he helped to create.  He’s tried to intimidate the Supreme Court.  His Administration has used the power of government agencies to punish his political adversaries and help his supporters.  And like a true demagogue, he’s demonized any opponents to his power grabs. 

In any other universe, these would be grounds for impeachment.  But Obama’s got a mob at his back.  In today's political environment, that matters.    

He’s built a base of voters largely dependent on a perpetuation of liberal Democrat policies for practically everything.  He’s managed to nearly double dependency on food stamps – even over the dramatic increases during the Bush Administration – and will soon have control over who gets healthcare, for how much, and for how long.   He’s convinced his base that he can single-handedly restore the economy, reduce foreclosures, reduce student loan debt, and soak the rich to pay for everything, if only he had unbridled authority to do whatever he wants.     

Instead of being alarmed at his near dictatorial attitude, his fans think he’s great.  That’s because he gives them whatever they want.  He exploits their prejudices against anyone who has been more successful in life than they have.  And he tells them that every problem they face is caused by someone else, not them.  His supporters are absolved of any personal responsibility. All their problems are the fault of greedy bankers and Wall Street, right-wing fanatics, soulless corporations, and others Hell-bent on keeping them poor, sick, and in debt.  

Only he – and his government – stand between his followers and the abyss. With the stakes so high, he can’t be expected to be held to rules written by a bunch of dead white guys a couple of hundred years ago.     

This is music to the ears of his supporters.  They only wish he’d do more.  They wish his power were more absolute.  They wish he didn’t have to deal with Congress or the Supreme Court at all.  In fact, they wish he could be President for Life. 

How scary is that?

That’s what happens when a mob becomes the apparent majority, primarily because they're the only ones motivated enough to vote.