A New American Monarchy

Thomas Paine’s anti-monarchy essay “Common Sense” involves many argumentative aspects that are eerily similar to some of the cases that have been made against the current government of the United States in recent history. However, one similarity that caught my attention due to its modern relevance highlights some of the issues that have been brought up due to the Occupy Wall Street movements and growing wealth gap in America. Paine writes, “There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of Monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the World, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly…” (445). This is precisely the complaint so many Americans have issued today regarding the economic fortunes of many of the candidates seeking a nomination for the presidency. Cain, Romney, and Gingrich, to name a few, are all millionaires trying to convince an entire population dealing with nine percent unemployment that they understand the plights of the average American struggling in these dire economic times. Of course, the argument is slightly different from Paine’s due to the fact that none of these men have actually been elected, nor would they inherit monarchical rights, but the sentiment is the same. How does one expect a man so far removed from the common strife of the working class to act positively on behalf of those in need of the most assistance? It is a question that plagues a field of Republican candidates that have built multi-million dollar empires and received millions of dollars in compensation from federally sponsored mortgage agencies that played key roles in the financial meltdown of 2008. This juxtaposition of personal reality and feigned public presentation leads to the root of the issue, which is that in this age of political practice, the common man cannot seek a Presidential nomination because he simply does not have enough money or connections to do so. Just as Paine puts forth that the hereditary nature of monarchic rule allows for the possibility that a “rogue or a fool” may have unwarranted authority bestowed upon him in a baseless fashion, many Americans would argue that the Presidency has felt such effects because money, rather than God like in Paine’s time, dictates the leadership of this nation. The need for access to enormous funds in order to run for election today has produced the same results felt by the common people that fell victim and helpless to a monarchy supposedly dictated by God. We have created a new type of monarchy by allowing finances to become such a crucial factor in the electoral process, and by the looks of the economy and a wealth gap that continues to grow wider, it seems unlikely the cycle will be broken any time soon. #11/3/11