Now that the semester has begun, I find myself with much less time. As a consequence I have dabbled around in Homer's Iliad, The Bhagavad Gita, a history book about Peru in the 16th century, and Niccolo Machiavelli's The Discourses. Not being fond of book bouncing, I have decided to stay put with Machiavelli and read it to the end.
The version I have is a Penguin Classic translated by Leslie J. Walker. Bernard Crick wrote an interesting introduction; his notable bias and constant deprecating comments about Marxism reflect its 1970 publication date.
Despite the bias, I have found Crick's introduction to be relevant to our 21st century American realities. Crick identifies six conditions that Machiavelli claims must exist in order for a republic (from Latin res publica, which means community) to exist. Those six conditions are:
1) "respect for custom and tradition"; 2) "town dominates country"; 3) the existence of a large middle class; 4) the institutionalization of popular power; 5) that civility and a "civic spirit" are alive and well in society; and 6) that "there is a knowledge [amongst the population] of these things" (41).
Taken point by point from recent events on the national stage one has to wonder. If Joe Wilson's recent outburst ("You lie!") during President Obama's address to Congress is any indication, respect for custom and tradition seems to be vanishing.
Historically our presidents have focused on the rural (mostly Southern) constituents as the dominant force in American politics. This was part of the Southern Strategy that served the Republican party very well for several decades. Now President Obama seems to be shifting that dynamic with his emphasis on urban communities. Much was said during the election cycle last fall about Obama's relationship to and familiarity with cities. If this trend continues, then Machiavelli's point about the "town" dominating the "country" may mark an important breakthrough for the American political landscape.
Scorecard: 1 to 1.
As for the existence of a large middle class, the news media have not been negligent about reporting the disappearance of those in the middle during this economic downturn. Although Tim Geithner among others are declaring this recession over, whether the American middle class will be resilient and bounce back is a story still untold.
The idea of allowing popular (populist) power to have some influence over government policy decisions is a complicated one. Machiavelli recommends that the ruler not ignore his opponents. What Machiavelli does advocate is channeling the energy and ideas of the opposition in order to burn off their ire. Perhaps Obama is doing this when he makes concessions on health care reform, although there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Obama simply has a personality that seeks common ground. Since this administration is still quite young (has it really only been 9 months?), the question of whether Obama channels or ignores the conservative base remains to be seen. From where I sit, it would appear difficult to channel the narrative that accuses the president of being a socialist (leftwing economics) and a fascist (rightwing politics) in the same breath.
Scorecard: 1 to 1 and 2 maybes.
In the current national dialogue about healthcare reform, the narrative of the "birthers" who question President Obama's citizenship in the face of overwhelming evidence, the accusations thrown at Obama that he's a socialist, a Marxist, a fascist and a communist, it becomes clear that civility in the nation's discourse seems to have been shuttled. To return to Joe Wilson's recent outburst during the President's address to Congress ("You lie!") serves as a further suggestion that there has been a significant erosion of a civic spirit since the gentile days Thomas Jefferson. Or has it? Didn't a fellow by the name of Aaron Burr (Vice President under Jefferson) get into a duel which resulted in Alexander Hamilton dying of the gunshot wounds? How civic and gentile is that?
Perhaps most problematic in the list is the last one. There is much consternation and hand wringing in some circles (mostly among educator types, employers, and government officials) that American youth are increasingly not prepared to compete in a globally connected workplace. In short, Americans are not very smart hence our ability to have knowledge of "these things" is limited. Truly, if many (most?) Americans don't know the historic connotations behind the terms socialist and fascist, how can they possibly be expected to know all of Machiavelli's elements that guarantee the perpetuation of a republic?
Scorecard: 3 to 1 and 2 maybes.
In short, what Obama does with the economy and a re-establishment of the middle class, along with his ability to diffuse the opposition, may be the determinants for whether the community that we call the United States is allowed to continue to waddle sideways as she advances into a lumbering middle aged empire. If the 2 maybes join with the 3 elements that are already lacking in American society, then all bets are off about the successful continuance of the American experiment. But that's only if you believe what Machiavelli says.
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