Thursday, September 19, 2013

Challenging the New Aristocracy

Do we, as Americans, want political office in the United States to be up for sale to the highest bidder? Should the pathway to riches in America begin with elective office?
What would Thomas Jefferson do if he were asked this question? He gives us at least a partial answer in his draft of "A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" (1779):
"For promoting the public happiness those persons whom nature has endowed with genius and virtue should be able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, and they should be called to that charge without regard to wealth, birth or any other accidental condition or circumstance." (emphasis mine)
We would all surely agree that given a choice, we would want our leadership to be endowed with both "genius and virtue." Do those qualities strike you as defining the majority of our current and recent leaders?

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