President Carter, Henry Kissinger and the CIA considered none of what was discussed here in Will’s article before they helped Communist terrorists destroy Rhodesia which gave it citizens black and white a better quality of life then any other country in black Africa. On another note, we sadly can’t do what they did in Virginia because the unique context and time that system emerged in is long since gone. However, we can do what Rhodesia did and start being more selective and expand the qualifications for who can vote in this country. If the United States is to be the best it can be, then we need to foster a society that values individual merit above all else. The fact is that mass democracy, egalitarianism, equity, inclusion, social justice, and racial justice were all terrible ideas that have hurt western civilization and its nations and people. Not everybody has what it takes to vote, run for office or be a senator, congressmen or President of the United States. That’s just how it is. It’s time that we acknowledged this fundamental truth.
These are privileges that should only be reserved for those who meet the criteria for being able to carry these very important duties out intelligently, thoughtfully and effectively and show the ability to be a good, effective and wise leader or an informed and responsible citizen. We need to have a society here in the United States that like Virginia and Rhodesia, allows the best men and women in our society from all races, religions and backgrounds rise to the top and keeps out those who are unqualified or don’t have the knowledge or skills to perform these most important functions in our society. American and western society more broadly flourishes and its people flourish when we promote and empower the most capable people to go as high as their talents can take them. How has mass democracy worked out? Not too good. Just look at the decrepit state of our cities, the plummeting birth rate, high rates of crime, our crummy public school and healthcare systems, crumbling infrastructure, political polarization and tribalism, racial division, the slovenly and demoralized nature of our citizenry, the decline of organized religion, the rampant corruption within ever level of government, and lack of national purpose among other things, you see quite clearly we’ve lost our way. We took a wrong turn and ought to return to our political roots if we wish to again have a functional society.
Virginia provides with a model for what that looks like and Rhodesia provides us with a blueprint for how we can recreate that in modern times. We must have men and women of ability serving in local and state governments, in Congress and in the White House. It’s the only way to save our nation. I’d like to thank Will for writing this terrific and timely piece that every American needs to read. Also, let me be absolutely clear. Putting in place new restrictions for voting need not mean discriminating against anyone because of their class, race, gender, or disability. Anyone who’s got the knowledge or the talent to do so, white, black, brown, red, or yellow, man or woman can rise or have the privilege of casting their ballot. Poor people and disabled people can be assisted by government programs and private charitable efforts in gaining the requisite knowledge, provided job training from which they gain employment and in turn can purchase property with the money they earn.
A tour de force of article from start to finish, Will! You explain perfectly why Virginia's Cursus Honorum the unique blend of democracy and aristocracy helped the cream of the crop of Virginian society rise to the top and provide the people of Virginia with the best qualified people to be their representatives. Virginia and Rhodesia built great societies warts and all, that succeeded because their respective governments the discriminated on the basis of human capability in order to promote excellence. This is good and right because it leads to human and national flourishing. The left hates this whole idea because it goes against their doctrine of equality which says that all people must be equal in all things even though that is impossible and would lead to the destruction of our glorious republic and western society.
The Rhodesians argued their system was the right and proper one. They were absolutely right as their system made them a famously successful society. In under a century, they had turned a land that had been stuck in the Stone Age a land where cattle were treated better than the poor human beings who scraped life from the soil into a very successful country with the highest standard of living for blacks and whites alike on the continent. They boasted a thriving agricultural center, a budding industrial sector, a terrific and genteel culture that brought the best aspects of British country life to a frontier environment, good governance, a booming economy even in the face of sanctions from the international community, and well-trained, tough as nails security forces who were experts at fighting guerrillas.
It was this quality that Rhodesia and Virginia excelled at. Both produced great numbers of men who both had the “habit of authority” and who were able and willing exercise it well. As to Virginia’s Cursus Honorum, it imposed on potential candidates for political office a series of tests to see if they really had what it took to represent the people in higher office. Step one was that the candidate in question needed to excel at the management of a plantation. Step two was service in the unelected parish vestry. Step three, earn the respect of the vestry council and be appointed by one’s powerful peers as a justice of the peace. Step four, do tolerably well as a justice of the peace so that you would be seen as a promising young political figure. That way you could be taken under the wing of and tutored by, the higher ranking, generally older man who ran the county courts. If you succeeded, you then were ready to run for the House of Burgesses.
To be elected, you just have to be in good standing with your fellow gentry but with the common folk as well. If you had the honor of being elected, you then had to submit yourself to the rigors of the role. It was only then if you proved you could handle this, could you rise to the higher ranks of power. This rigorous system that weeded out those who were unsuitable for public office and promoted those with talent and who worked hard based on merit, is why Virginia produced some of our nation’s greatest leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and John Randolph of Roanoke. This system however, wasn’t perfect. It excluded women, poor men and blacks. However two things, 1) Let us keep in mind this system was a product of its era. This was the 18th Century and it would have reflected the common prejudices of the time. 2) With all its faults, it was a great system that prepared men to become and molded them into leaders, and produced some of the greatest Americans to ever live.
Consider the Old Dominions way of doing business with that we struggle under in Weimerica today.
Choosing people of demonstrated talent to govern and vote is quite literally the mark of Satan among the average Weimerican, left and right of center.
For the left, holding on to power demands they scrape up the detritus of society, often from within cardboard boxes, battered vehicles and tents, sobering them up long enough to poke the hole in a ballot they are instructed to poke and then keeping them happily inebriated until next election.
And the right is no better, preferring to measure quality by one’s ability to game the system to one’s own advantage. Taxation needn’t be fair as long as loopholes are available to those with the wherewithal to make use of them.
Leona Helmsley was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment not for evading taxes, but because she broke the omertà of the wealthy.
Thus the middle class is torn from both sides and stumbling under the weight.
I’ve often said that as the most meagre test, the franchise should be dependent on one’s ability to prove one has made a net positive contribution to the public treasury.
This of course has been equated to a poll tax, and perhaps it is, but it’s a tax any productive citizen pays as a matter of course.
Passing the franchise to anyone that draws first breath in the country has been thoroughly weighed, measured and found disastrous.
All governments are NOT republics or democracies rather all governments ARE a form of Oligharchy. They may start out on paper other forma of government but the Iron Law of Oligharchy soon sets in. Read Robert Michel's book by that same name.
I wonder what Will's thinks about this. BTW this is a brilliant analysis and teaching as always. Great job.
I think the proper sense of virtue inculcated in an elite can combat this for periods, but that’s difficult to maintain over time and so always is a struggle and something about which we must remain vigilant
You could take this argument all the way to the president's office and a restoration! If the corrupt officials are removed, this logic would win the day, same as it had before.
But today, we have to ask, who is it that helped those Virginians establish themselves so well?
Their forefathers would've failed without support from the king of England and business allies in Europe. We hear a lot about dissent in the late 18th century, but it masks the immense trust and investments of the previous two centuries.
So I have to think that our generation also needs immense support from established houses, for us to achieve great things. But who.
One problem today is that men like Trump are today's wealthy elites.
Jews have more money than God and it's money that counts today. Jews control all major propaganda machines and can sell people on war for Israel. Honorable people today are the last people to want involvement in politics and the corruption. The population is too large for representation to work. Jews will use their money and power to defeat anyone who doesn't put Israel first and they shove this into our faces.
We could dissolve the federal government and govern at the state and county level which might give us a chance to elect smart and honorable people. We'd have a better chance to know the people we elect.
Robert Deniro tried to warn us about Trump but he was so crude and vulgar that nobody wanted to listen. The country is too big and the population to large for us to manage.
We won't solve any problems until we deport the Jews to Israel and that means all of them.
President Carter, Henry Kissinger and the CIA considered none of what was discussed here in Will’s article before they helped Communist terrorists destroy Rhodesia which gave it citizens black and white a better quality of life then any other country in black Africa. On another note, we sadly can’t do what they did in Virginia because the unique context and time that system emerged in is long since gone. However, we can do what Rhodesia did and start being more selective and expand the qualifications for who can vote in this country. If the United States is to be the best it can be, then we need to foster a society that values individual merit above all else. The fact is that mass democracy, egalitarianism, equity, inclusion, social justice, and racial justice were all terrible ideas that have hurt western civilization and its nations and people. Not everybody has what it takes to vote, run for office or be a senator, congressmen or President of the United States. That’s just how it is. It’s time that we acknowledged this fundamental truth.
These are privileges that should only be reserved for those who meet the criteria for being able to carry these very important duties out intelligently, thoughtfully and effectively and show the ability to be a good, effective and wise leader or an informed and responsible citizen. We need to have a society here in the United States that like Virginia and Rhodesia, allows the best men and women in our society from all races, religions and backgrounds rise to the top and keeps out those who are unqualified or don’t have the knowledge or skills to perform these most important functions in our society. American and western society more broadly flourishes and its people flourish when we promote and empower the most capable people to go as high as their talents can take them. How has mass democracy worked out? Not too good. Just look at the decrepit state of our cities, the plummeting birth rate, high rates of crime, our crummy public school and healthcare systems, crumbling infrastructure, political polarization and tribalism, racial division, the slovenly and demoralized nature of our citizenry, the decline of organized religion, the rampant corruption within ever level of government, and lack of national purpose among other things, you see quite clearly we’ve lost our way. We took a wrong turn and ought to return to our political roots if we wish to again have a functional society.
Virginia provides with a model for what that looks like and Rhodesia provides us with a blueprint for how we can recreate that in modern times. We must have men and women of ability serving in local and state governments, in Congress and in the White House. It’s the only way to save our nation. I’d like to thank Will for writing this terrific and timely piece that every American needs to read. Also, let me be absolutely clear. Putting in place new restrictions for voting need not mean discriminating against anyone because of their class, race, gender, or disability. Anyone who’s got the knowledge or the talent to do so, white, black, brown, red, or yellow, man or woman can rise or have the privilege of casting their ballot. Poor people and disabled people can be assisted by government programs and private charitable efforts in gaining the requisite knowledge, provided job training from which they gain employment and in turn can purchase property with the money they earn.
A tour de force of article from start to finish, Will! You explain perfectly why Virginia's Cursus Honorum the unique blend of democracy and aristocracy helped the cream of the crop of Virginian society rise to the top and provide the people of Virginia with the best qualified people to be their representatives. Virginia and Rhodesia built great societies warts and all, that succeeded because their respective governments the discriminated on the basis of human capability in order to promote excellence. This is good and right because it leads to human and national flourishing. The left hates this whole idea because it goes against their doctrine of equality which says that all people must be equal in all things even though that is impossible and would lead to the destruction of our glorious republic and western society.
The Rhodesians argued their system was the right and proper one. They were absolutely right as their system made them a famously successful society. In under a century, they had turned a land that had been stuck in the Stone Age a land where cattle were treated better than the poor human beings who scraped life from the soil into a very successful country with the highest standard of living for blacks and whites alike on the continent. They boasted a thriving agricultural center, a budding industrial sector, a terrific and genteel culture that brought the best aspects of British country life to a frontier environment, good governance, a booming economy even in the face of sanctions from the international community, and well-trained, tough as nails security forces who were experts at fighting guerrillas.
It was this quality that Rhodesia and Virginia excelled at. Both produced great numbers of men who both had the “habit of authority” and who were able and willing exercise it well. As to Virginia’s Cursus Honorum, it imposed on potential candidates for political office a series of tests to see if they really had what it took to represent the people in higher office. Step one was that the candidate in question needed to excel at the management of a plantation. Step two was service in the unelected parish vestry. Step three, earn the respect of the vestry council and be appointed by one’s powerful peers as a justice of the peace. Step four, do tolerably well as a justice of the peace so that you would be seen as a promising young political figure. That way you could be taken under the wing of and tutored by, the higher ranking, generally older man who ran the county courts. If you succeeded, you then were ready to run for the House of Burgesses.
To be elected, you just have to be in good standing with your fellow gentry but with the common folk as well. If you had the honor of being elected, you then had to submit yourself to the rigors of the role. It was only then if you proved you could handle this, could you rise to the higher ranks of power. This rigorous system that weeded out those who were unsuitable for public office and promoted those with talent and who worked hard based on merit, is why Virginia produced some of our nation’s greatest leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and John Randolph of Roanoke. This system however, wasn’t perfect. It excluded women, poor men and blacks. However two things, 1) Let us keep in mind this system was a product of its era. This was the 18th Century and it would have reflected the common prejudices of the time. 2) With all its faults, it was a great system that prepared men to become and molded them into leaders, and produced some of the greatest Americans to ever live.
Thank you!
Consider the Old Dominions way of doing business with that we struggle under in Weimerica today.
Choosing people of demonstrated talent to govern and vote is quite literally the mark of Satan among the average Weimerican, left and right of center.
For the left, holding on to power demands they scrape up the detritus of society, often from within cardboard boxes, battered vehicles and tents, sobering them up long enough to poke the hole in a ballot they are instructed to poke and then keeping them happily inebriated until next election.
And the right is no better, preferring to measure quality by one’s ability to game the system to one’s own advantage. Taxation needn’t be fair as long as loopholes are available to those with the wherewithal to make use of them.
Leona Helmsley was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment not for evading taxes, but because she broke the omertà of the wealthy.
Thus the middle class is torn from both sides and stumbling under the weight.
I’ve often said that as the most meagre test, the franchise should be dependent on one’s ability to prove one has made a net positive contribution to the public treasury.
This of course has been equated to a poll tax, and perhaps it is, but it’s a tax any productive citizen pays as a matter of course.
Passing the franchise to anyone that draws first breath in the country has been thoroughly weighed, measured and found disastrous.
The egalitarian rot is now very deeply set, sadly
All governments are NOT republics or democracies rather all governments ARE a form of Oligharchy. They may start out on paper other forma of government but the Iron Law of Oligharchy soon sets in. Read Robert Michel's book by that same name.
I wonder what Will's thinks about this. BTW this is a brilliant analysis and teaching as always. Great job.
I think the proper sense of virtue inculcated in an elite can combat this for periods, but that’s difficult to maintain over time and so always is a struggle and something about which we must remain vigilant
You could take this argument all the way to the president's office and a restoration! If the corrupt officials are removed, this logic would win the day, same as it had before.
But today, we have to ask, who is it that helped those Virginians establish themselves so well?
Their forefathers would've failed without support from the king of England and business allies in Europe. We hear a lot about dissent in the late 18th century, but it masks the immense trust and investments of the previous two centuries.
So I have to think that our generation also needs immense support from established houses, for us to achieve great things. But who.
One problem today is that men like Trump are today's wealthy elites.
Jews have more money than God and it's money that counts today. Jews control all major propaganda machines and can sell people on war for Israel. Honorable people today are the last people to want involvement in politics and the corruption. The population is too large for representation to work. Jews will use their money and power to defeat anyone who doesn't put Israel first and they shove this into our faces.
We could dissolve the federal government and govern at the state and county level which might give us a chance to elect smart and honorable people. We'd have a better chance to know the people we elect.
Robert Deniro tried to warn us about Trump but he was so crude and vulgar that nobody wanted to listen. The country is too big and the population to large for us to manage.
We won't solve any problems until we deport the Jews to Israel and that means all of them.
Do you have links to Snydor's & Bridenbaugh's books/essays? A bibliography on these posts would be immensely helpful.
Well they will both be in my book roundup for this month. Most of the other books for the series are in these two book roundups
https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/ive-been-studying-virginia-all-month
https://www.theamericantribune.news/p/what-i-read-in-february-the-good
The Sydnor one is linked up at the top, but here is the link: https://amzn.to/4sy9uCV
Here is a link to the Bridenbaugh one: https://amzn.to/4dFOqGX
the specific quotes are in the article footnotes!
Does that help
Thanks! It does!