Who Rules America?

President Lincoln described ours as a "government of the people, by the people and for the people." That was the lesson I learned in Civics back in the 1950s. Over the years, as I grew more interested and involved in the political process, I came to realize that in our day the facts don't exactly match the story.

Today there is a ruling class that dominates "we the people." It is not that our founders planned it that way. It is not that we the people wish them to have this power. It is not that they have earned this position because of their sacrifices on our behalf. There have been few if any sacrifices on their part. It is not that the rest of the population is incompetent or incapable of providing political leadership.

The ruling class is made up of career politicians who move from one political office to another until they reach the feathered nest of the U. S. Senate or House of Representatives.

* The majority of the ruling class are by training, lawyers.

* They tend to be graduates of prestigious universities.

* They are generally people of wealth Otherwise they could not afford to run for high office with any hope of victory. If not rich when they are elected, after a few years they almost always reach that high financial plane.

* Once elected, the power they wield, the privileges their office affords them, the glamor and glitz of the Washington social scene tend to inflate their egos. This is described as the arrogance of power.

* They are courted by people of wealth and power and celebrities who seek access to them and to the influence and power they now possess. This intoxicating experience tends to swell the head.

* They often tend to be elitists, some by birth, some by schooling and some by power. This is reflected in a superior, paternalistic attitude toward their constituents and the working class.

* Their first interest seems to be preserving their job and working to assure their victory in their next election. Concern for their state or the nation appears to be secondary to their career.

* They tend to become distant and disconnected from the people they were elected to represent.

* They tend to live high on the taxpayer's tab, with little concern for thrift or care for the people's resources.

* They quickly learn the political language of doublespeak. They can answer a question with a "Yes" while meaning "No" or "No" while meaning "Yes." They become masters at spinning which is the art of making failure look or sound like victory, or making wrong appear to be right.

* The ruling class is not confined to one political party. Party affiliation is not as important as the office and the power it affords. This is why a politician who fears a backlash against his party can rather blithely switch his party allegiance. Experience suggests that the liberal of either party is more likely to match this description.

* This situation leads some citizens to despair of ever seeing any major difference regardless of who is elected When the political situation becomes unbearable, it generates the attitude of "throw all the bums out!"

* I must add that there are noble exceptions to this general picture. A former Congressman once told me that he could count on his ten fingers the true statesmen with whom he had served.

This unhealthy political environment is not good for a democracy. We must work and pray that we will one day see a return of the citizen statesman and the demise of this elitist ruling class.