Is the sun still rising?

More than 200 years ago when the founding fathers of America were deliberating on the type of constitution that they would form, Benjamin Franklin looked at George Washington’s chair in the front with an engraved half-sun. As they were signing the Constitution he said that during the convention he had often looked at the painted sun and wondered "...whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."

Is the sun still rising? Is it at mid-day or is it starting to set? Is 200 years too long to hope for a still-rising sun? If history has taught us anything it is that nations go through cycles. But why?

Polybius, the Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period, wrote that there are two ways governments fall. One is external and one internal. The external we know about. The internal happens because greed and pride in the people leads them to mob-rule. They hide under the guise of democracy and freedom, but what they really want is easy money; Government cash; Handouts; Bailouts; Someone else to support them. He proved prophetic in the case of Rome.

Plato said in his book The Republic that governments digress from good government into a rule of the rich (Oligarchy) where riches are all that matter, then people become free and they apply that freedom to everything –freedom to lie, freedom to sleep around, freedom to drink and do drugs, freedom from all responsibilities- and you have mob-rule. This is followed by tyranny when a demagogue convinces people that He/She can provide power and riches for all. The demagogue is elected and surprisingly cares only for his/her own riches, becoming a tyrant.

So nations go through cycles. Do they have to? Can we prevent the law of Entropy (The law that states that things flow from an ordered state to a disordered one) from affecting our nation? I think we can for as long as we can avoid the pride and greed that leads us to destruction.

And we come back to the original question. Where in the cycle are we? Rising? At our height? Setting?

According to Aristotle and Plato you can tell a lot about the government by looking at the characters of those governed. In Federalist paper #51 James Madison says. “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

It is clear that we are not angels, and we are not all virtuous either. If so then we might have an Aristocracy in the true sense of the word where a small group of highly virtuous people lead. If we as a people valued honor above all things then we might have a Monarchy. This is obviously not what we have. Neither do we have a tyranny were fear is the leading emotion and principle of action.

That leaves three forms that we haven’t talked about. There are arguments that make it look like we could fall into any one of these categories.

Our government was originally meant to be a Constitutional Government. This is a mixture of the best principles of each form of Government. We have a president that is elected so that we can show a solid face to the other nations and work as one in times of war. This is supposed to give us the benefits of a good monarchy, without the risk of a tyranny. We have a Senate, which is supposed to represent the interests of the individual states and a house of representatives to represent the people directly. These are our aristocracy- Aris being noble. Our juries are chosen randomly from the people at large and we vote for those best suited to rule in order to get the most worthy men. These are democratic principles that give us all a voice in our government.

Time has changed us. The Founders set up the checks and balances that we learned about in school to protect us from decline. We have been given an excellent legacy.

So why is it that the thought of calling our senators and representatives Noble and Virtuous is laughable? Honor and virtue are hardly the calling cards of our leaders. Nor are they the standards of the people. Those that strive for virtue are considered old-fashioned and uptight. So it stands to reason that we do not have a true constitutional government anymore.

Oligarchy, is truly the rule of the rich. In this type of society people value money above all else. Power is bought and sold, and money is needed to grease the wheels of government. The people obsess about having the newest, latest and greatest, and riches and glamour are seen as the ultimate success. The rich are idolized and admired. People will lie or cheat to get wealth.

Democracy, or as we would call it, mob-rule is the rule of the poor. Licentious freedom is the dominant characteristic. People want to be free to do anything they want without paying the price. Borrowing to get what is wanted now, spending without thought of the future, immorality, lack of responsibility- all of these trends in the people point to a mob-rule.

We have portions of all three of these governments. I think that most Americans are good at the core. Most of us try to do what is right and desire only the freedom to pursue our own happiness. This is in our favor. It is evident though that we have a growing portion of the vices indicative of oligarchy and democracy.

So while we are busy pointing our fingers at those in Washington, perhaps it would be more fitting to point them in the mirror. Does Washington have a spending problem? We have spending problems individually. Does Washington value money more than virtue? What white lies are told in America on a daily basis to make or keep more money? Does Washington pass the buck? How many parents take responsibility for their children? How many people take responsibility for themselves? The problems in Washington are not going to go away until we as a people fix our cultural attitudes. If we value money more than virtue, we will not have virtuous leaders. If we value our freedom to do whatever we want and not take responsibility then that is what we can expect from our leaders. Washington D.C. is a concentrated form of our culture as a whole. So lets fix us to fix them. This is the only way to avoid the greed and pride that have led to the fall of many nations and empires.

So in answer to the original question: I believe our sun is no longer as high in the sky as it once was, but its light still shines. The decency and goodness of the American people as a whole is still a light and beacon to the world, if a little dimmer, a little lower than before. Since that decisive day more than 200 years ago our sun has tottered sometimes on its journey. It is tottering now. Our future is up to us and only time will tell if we will step forward and clear the clouds of oligarchy and mob-rule leaving a virtuous people with a constitutional government strong and bright, and a clear and beautiful legacy for our children.