90 years after Harvard adopted the SAT, it has become test-optional in the name of DIE. FIRE also ranked it as the worst university for free speech. Ken Griffin's recent $300 million donation to Harvard is a case study in conventional philanthropy - he could have practiced courageous dissident philanthropy by supporting UATX instead ;)
Aristoi is a great word. It's time to bring back noblesse oblige as well. Ameritocracy?
Great article but like your friend Peter Thiel said “what’s good for General Motors is good for America” sarcasm expressing that Technology companies like Facebook and Instagram have not provided all that much for society. Both aren’t big employers for Americans or produce great products. It’d be a net positive if Facebook got shut down today. Where as a productive vehicle company shutting down would be a bad thing
A useful call to action. If we have statesmen like Jefferson and Adams at present, it is not obvious. I think we should institute term limits to eliminate "career" legislators. This could bring many benefits, not least being making the elderly politicos go back home after, say, 12 years in DC. (Two senate terms, six house terms.) Fresh ideas, new energy.
"But what did the richest men of the age do in America — become dictators? No, far from it. They spent their talents and wealth building for the next generation: venerating the system, endowing new institutions, and passing on the promise of social dynamism."
The slight issue here is that elite they educated almost immediately went on to overthrow the American Republic, in favor of a managerial state in which they and their friends could forcefully tinker with every aspect of American life. Meanwhile the foundations they created quickly became vehicles for ideas that would have profoundly disgusted them. It doesn't seem like the natural elite are particularly good at delegating outside of their immediate skill-sets and so their resources quickly go towards creating and feeding the parasites that make their intervention so desirable.
Perhaps we'd be better off if we could find a way to draft the wealthy into government decision-making.
This article misses one of our the largest problems in government: the 17th amendment. Our Senators were supposed to embody this natural aristocracy, and at the same time represent their state. Repeal of the 17th amendment would partially restore the SPQR balance originally in our Republic and in our constitution.
Aristotle explicitly identified three ruling classes: rule by one, by many, and by all. The Romans provided a good mix of the three, and the British government improved on it slightly. Our former system of senators, elected in smoke-filled rooms of state legislators, was far better than our popular election of the most partisan primary candidates.
Yes!!! I am a student of Don Lutz, and the concept of natural aristocracy and republican virtue were the foundations stones of our Constitution and Declaration.
90 years after Harvard adopted the SAT, it has become test-optional in the name of DIE. FIRE also ranked it as the worst university for free speech. Ken Griffin's recent $300 million donation to Harvard is a case study in conventional philanthropy - he could have practiced courageous dissident philanthropy by supporting UATX instead ;)
Aristoi is a great word. It's time to bring back noblesse oblige as well. Ameritocracy?
Great article but like your friend Peter Thiel said “what’s good for General Motors is good for America” sarcasm expressing that Technology companies like Facebook and Instagram have not provided all that much for society. Both aren’t big employers for Americans or produce great products. It’d be a net positive if Facebook got shut down today. Where as a productive vehicle company shutting down would be a bad thing
A useful call to action. If we have statesmen like Jefferson and Adams at present, it is not obvious. I think we should institute term limits to eliminate "career" legislators. This could bring many benefits, not least being making the elderly politicos go back home after, say, 12 years in DC. (Two senate terms, six house terms.) Fresh ideas, new energy.
"But what did the richest men of the age do in America — become dictators? No, far from it. They spent their talents and wealth building for the next generation: venerating the system, endowing new institutions, and passing on the promise of social dynamism."
The slight issue here is that elite they educated almost immediately went on to overthrow the American Republic, in favor of a managerial state in which they and their friends could forcefully tinker with every aspect of American life. Meanwhile the foundations they created quickly became vehicles for ideas that would have profoundly disgusted them. It doesn't seem like the natural elite are particularly good at delegating outside of their immediate skill-sets and so their resources quickly go towards creating and feeding the parasites that make their intervention so desirable.
Perhaps we'd be better off if we could find a way to draft the wealthy into government decision-making.
If you want a good idea, read an old book.
This article misses one of our the largest problems in government: the 17th amendment. Our Senators were supposed to embody this natural aristocracy, and at the same time represent their state. Repeal of the 17th amendment would partially restore the SPQR balance originally in our Republic and in our constitution.
Aristotle explicitly identified three ruling classes: rule by one, by many, and by all. The Romans provided a good mix of the three, and the British government improved on it slightly. Our former system of senators, elected in smoke-filled rooms of state legislators, was far better than our popular election of the most partisan primary candidates.
Yes!!! I am a student of Don Lutz, and the concept of natural aristocracy and republican virtue were the foundations stones of our Constitution and Declaration.
Well said.