A Loss of Representative Democracy

There is nothing in this world that Americans are more proud of than representative democracy. It is, to be sure, something for which we are to be justly proud. True enough, it has not been perfect. At times some country here and there has moved ahead of us in some innovation; but on the whole America has believed that if it sticks by representative democracy, benefits will come. America has not looked for benefits to be given by some far off potentate or political strongman. Instead Americans have looked to ourselves and our neighbors to protect our life, our liberty, and our property. Americans are curious people because we will take the long road ’round to get what is desired rather than take a short cut through authoritarianism. We make sure as many people are on board and we do it. It is just what you would expect from a country of merchants and machinists, farmers and factory workers. The beating heart of America’s political machine is worker and producer and not the aristocrat or technocrat.

Yet, there has been a worrying trend lately that has preyed on America’s fears rather than her strengths or loves or even history. On one hand there are status quo technocrats who wish to make America look like a European country. While I do admit to loving Europe, the first thing I did when I got home from a visit there was to kiss the ground. I think most Americans are like me. I don’t have much fear about a globalist agenda taking place. Yet, the worst kind of disease is the one that finds a small fear, blows it out of proportion, and then imports its far more insidious infection through the back door. I fear, there are some who are attempting just that. I will stick with just one example, because it is an example that is played out in other areas in our government.

Ajit Pai is a lawyer and a lobbyist. He attempts to wrap himself in the mantel of a tech guy and a Republican, but he is no more either one of those things than I am. While I can only be said to have hurt a few computers and broken things I don’t understand, Pai appears to be doing this on a grander scale with the entire internet. And while my political persuasion is that of a staunch moderate and independent who votes for common sense laws that don’t morally compromise my country, Pai appears to vote for the corporations who will promise him the most comfort.

Comfort is a dangerous siren’s song. People have tried to sing the song to Americans before. People tried to sing it to us in the Revolution when we wanted representative democracy. People tried to sing it to us for the institution of slavery. People tried to sing it to us that we should only import goods and not attempt industry or manufacturing ourselves. People have tried to sing it to us to not meddle with Nazi affairs in Europe. The history of evil is written to the tune of comfort. The same is true of people and corporations as it is of nations and people. The unthinking easy way is better than the disciplined hard way, these people say. Do not look at the failed history of this tune, pay no attention to the wreckage, just trust us and everything will be okay.

Ajit Pai has been sung this song. Maybe he believes it or maybe he doesn’t. The easy thing is just to allow a centralized authority, the telecommunication monopolies, control the American internet, and therefore the world’s internet. The American people, through Republicans and Democrats, have stood up for the need to have an industry that serves their needs. Imperfectly, we have made a place for businesses to come in and lay down cables. While other countries have blazed ahead in internet speeds, Americans have felt comfortable to allow companies to shoulder this responsibility because of our unique vision for the free market. Sadly, somewhere along the line our bequeathment of the right to construct a free-market internet was used against us. The servants and beneficiaries of America’s benevolence have become overlords and masters who, because their usurped authority has not been challenged, have turned against the people who gave them what they have. The even fashion themselves innovators and benign providers of a common good, but wish to undemocratically wrest the control of that good from the American people and other corporations.

In the face of this threat, the American people have written and begged Ajit Pai and others to please not do this thing. We have asked and demanded that the government cease dolling out “most-favored business” rulings to corporations. The telecommunications companies have no more right to the internet than anyone else in this country. They had a government contract to lay down the cable, like a road crew. In fact they were given more leeway than a road crew and more input too, often times blatantly failing to adhere to their contracts and bypassing “unprofitable” Americans. They also could control speeds. It is hard to justify giving more control to an industry that has shown itself to be mostly above board, it is unconscionable to do so with an industry that has willfully and blatantly ignored its contracts. Giving power to any entity and away from the people, then lying about doing so, is un-American.

The current FCC is being governed by such an un-American ethos. The director and those like him have sought not to be public servants but to be lawyers who seek to find an excuse to allow their client (in this case the telecommunications companies) to extract more from Americans. The American people have written to the FCC and are left unheard. Legal briefs have actually been filed, but justice appears to not be on the agenda. When the people and justice are ignored, Americans should be concerned.

Secretly, without our noticing what happened, America shifted from a country that was concerned about doing its best to a country that looked to be part of a club. The current administration, which elevated Pai to his current position, has done this systematically. While pursuing actions which hurt average Americans and to which average Americans have naturally pushed back, it wraps itself in a mantle of defending against the insidious threat of globalism. Yet, it only succeeds by warning Americans who question its authority, that they will be out of their club. This is the perfect example of using fear to take away the, dare I say, rights of Americans. Refusing to listen or acknowledge that this a wildly unpopular move, an appointed official is pushing through a law that does not have the support of the people. When confronted, the administration uses the playbook of authoritarians and dictators, they denounce those speaking for the people as un-American and unpatriotic. If the people are no longer able to hold those who transgress laws accountable, do we still have justice? If the people are no longer allowed to have a say on our laws, do we still have a representative democracy?

There will always be cranks who will never give a person an honest shake. But the average American used to be able to admit that they could tell the difference. Dictators take control when they notice that people in their country are more concerned with belonging to an in-crowd than standing by justice and having a say in how their lives are run. Too often of late, we have elected a civil servant with the understanding that our group will put the screws on that other group. We become so loyal to our group that we excuse them from being public servants and looking out for our well being. Those in power see this, they see where they can make a future for themselves, and the give appointments to people who will further their career more than perform their duty.

 We must be honest with ourselves about what is happening. Ajit Pai is a non-elected official who wields power over the greatest invention of the past few years. He, and his associates, wish to turn it into their own fiefdom. It will throttle innovation, skim money from people, and further limit freedom in America. This is not a win for the free market, but rather a loss for it. And more than that, it shows that Americans are willing to put up with a loss of representative democracy so long as their clan is in power. The message it sends is chilling for all of us in this country who were brought up to love liberty.