Demagogue
This is a personal website which tries its best to present material that originates directly from my personal experience. In other words, I listen to the voice in my head and try not to be too influenced by the speech floating around me. I’m more interested in what I think than I am in what other people tell me I should be thinking.
An added distinction is in order before we get to the topic of this post. People that have taken the time to write down their thoughts and the reasoning for those, do hold sway with me. Our founding fathers are example of those sorts of people. Using those thoughts as background for the formation of our own opinions is a valid approach to opinion forming.
Although I have a degree in Political Science and I enjoy the study of history even at this later stage in life, that does not give me the right to tell you what to think… However, I think it allows me to share with you what I have learned, you can form your own opinion about what this means, as have I.
Taking a look back at the writings of our founding fathers, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton in particular, there are lessons to be gleaned that are applicable today. George Washington’s greatest fear was that a cult of personality would be used to subvert democracy. He expressed this view in letters he wrote during the summer of 1787 when he was attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He even stated that his primary reason for attending was to prevent such an occurrence in a still very young and forming country.
In Washington’s day, the word demagogue was not commonly used as an insult or in a derogatory way. When it was used, it was not as easily dismissed as it is today. This is largely I believe because today so few people really understand what it means. The meaning of the word has been known since Greek and Roman times. It was as clear to Washington in his day as it is to historical scholars today, the meaning is precise. A demagogue is someone who uses distrust, fear, threats, emotional appeals to prejudice, and yes, even lies to obtain power. Almost always the power sought is personal power. I’m not aware of any incident in history when demagoguery was used to obtain power so that altruistic goals could then be pursued.
In the Federalist Papers No. 1, Alexander Hamilton writes:
“History will teach us that… of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.”
It is clear what Washington and Hamilton thought about demagogues and what the result of the words and actions of demagogues will lead to. The take-away is to avoid allowing our emotions to lead our decision making. Relying on the wisdom and the experience of others, and what history teaches us, is a much more reliable guide.
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