Elective Despotism

There can be no doubt regarding the outcome of this election; nor can there be any excuses for it.  All knew what had been said, and promised, by the victor.  All knew what he had done.  It can't be claimed we didn't know what would happen.  It simply didn't matter to the majority of us let alone in the strange world of the electoral college.

The pundits speculate regarding the reasons for the outcome.  It's what they and the media in general do--speculate, endlessly.  Also, now, they assess blame for the outcome.  

The simple fact is that the electorate has elevated to the presidency someone who said he will govern or attempt to govern as a despot, and those who support him are intent on using the power of government to make people behave as they deem appropriate, contrary to the principles of traditional conservatism.  This is the will of the majority.

An elective despotism, in other words.  Thomas Jefferson, quoted above, thought that this is not the form of government the Founding Fathers fought for, and I think he knew what he was saying.  Regardless, it seems to be the form of government the majority of us want.

Perhaps Mencken was right when he wrote that the people don't want liberty, but instead want security.  So, they want a president who is the kind of "Big Daddy" the Abrahamic religions worship as God--someone strong who will put down those who are different, and take care of us if we obey.  Judging from the political ads which were issued by the president elect and his supporters, it was believed that a win by the Democratic candidate would mean that gays and transexuals would multiply, and indeed be created through surgery.  Burly transgenders would dominate girls and women sports.  Fentanyl distributing immigrants would lurk in the streets, living on money diverted to them by the government, eating pets when not killing Americans.

People don't want to be told what to do.  Most of all it seems to me that they don't want to be told that ways of living they dislike are appropriate and that their dislike is a sign of ignorance and bigotry. This seems to be what I've called in this blog the Missionary Media is eager to communicate, though, and I can't help but wonder if that insistence on the part of media and entertainment writers of making traditional morals seem antiquated and immoral played a part in the outcome of the election and the intent to use government to repress non-traditional lifestyles.

Unfortunately, if I'm right and many of those who voted for the president-elect are people who don't want to be told what to do, those people now want to tell other people what they should not do.  And they want a president who will make sure they don't do what they shouldn't do.

The creation of the American Republic was a kind of experiment.  This will be an experiment of another sort.