Lawrence Lessig’s Republic
Lost documents the corrosive effect of money on our political
process. Lessig persuasively makes the case that we are witnessing the loss of
our republican form of government, as politicians increasingly represent those
who fund their campaigns, rather than our citizens.
Anthony Everitt’s Rise
of Rome is
fascinating history and a great read. It tells the story of ancient Rome, from
its founding (circa 750 BCE) to the fall of the Roman Republic (circa 45 BCE).
When read together, striking parallels emerge — between our failings and the
failings that destroyed the Roman Republic. As with Rome just before the
Republic’s fall, America has seen:
1 — Staggering Increase in the Cost of Elections, with Dubious Campaign
Funding Sources: Our 2012 election reportedly cost $3 billion. All of
it was raised from private sources – often creating the appearance, or the
reality, that our leaders are beholden to special interest groups. During the
late Roman Republic, elections became staggeringly expensive, with equally
deplorable results. Caesar reportedly
borrowed so heavily for one political campaign, he feared he would be ruined,
if not elected.
2 — Politics as the Road to Personal Wealth: During the late Roman
Republic period, one of the main roads to wealth was holding public office,
and exploiting such positions to accumulate personal wealth. As Lessig notes:
Congressman, Senators and their staffs leverage their government service to
move to private sector positions – that pay three to ten times their
government compensation. Given this financial arrangement, “Their focus is
therefore not so much on the people who sent them to Washington. Their focus
is instead on those who will make them rich.” (Republic
Lost)
3 — Continuous War: A national state of security arises, distracting
attention from domestic challenges with foreign wars. Similar to
the late Roman Republic, the US – for the past 100 years — has either been
fighting a war, recovering from a war, or preparing for a new war: WW I
(1917-18), WW II (1941-1945), Cold War (1947-1991), Korean War (1950-1953),
Vietnam (1953-1975), Gulf War (1990-1991), Afghanistan (2001-ongoing), and
Iraq (2003-2011). And, this list is far from complete.
4 — Foreign Powers Lavish Money/Attention on the Republic’s Leaders: Foreign
wars lead to growing influence, by foreign powers and interests, on the
Republic’s political leaders — true for Rome and true for us. In the past
century, foreign embassies, agents and lobbyists have proliferated in our
nation’s capital. As one specific example: A foreign businessman donated
$100 million to Bill
Clinton‘s various activities. Clinton “opened doors” for him, and
sometimes acted in ways contrary to stated American interests and foreign
policy.
5 — Profits Made Overseas Shape the Republic’s Internal Policies: As
the fortunes of Rome’s aristocracy increasingly derived from foreign lands,
Roman policy was shaped to facilitate these fortunes. American billionaires
and corporations increasingly influence our elections. In many cases, they
are only nominally American – with interests not aligned with those of the
American public. For example, Fox News is part of international media group
News Corp., with over $30 billion in revenues worldwide. Is Fox News’
jingoism a product of News Corp.’s non-U.S. interests?
6 — Collapse of the Middle Class: In the period just before the
Roman Republic’s fall, the Roman middle class was crushed — destroyed by
cheap overseas slave labor. In our own day, we’ve witnessed rising income
inequality, a stagnating middle class, and the loss of American jobs to
overseas workers who are paid less and have fewer rights.
7 — Gerrymandering: Rome’s late Republic used various methods to
reduce the power of common citizens. The GOP has so effectively gerrymandered Congressional
districts that, even though House Republican candidates received only about
48 percent of the popular vote in the 2012 election — they ended up with the
majority (53 percent) of the seats.
8 — Loss of the Spirit of Compromise: The Roman Republic, like
ours, relied on a system of checks and balances. Compromise is needed for
this type of system to function. In the end, the Roman Republic lost that
spirit of compromise, with politics increasingly polarized between Optimates
(the rich, entrenched elites) and Populares (the common people). Sound
familiar? Compromise is in noticeably short supply in our own time also. For
example, “There were more filibusters between 2009 and 2010 than there
were in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s combined.”
As Benjamin
Franklin observed, we have a Republic — but only if we can keep it.