Among the various routes that leftist pundits tried to take in discounting J.D. Vance’s performance against Tim Walz was to accuse him of “mansplaining” to the so-called moderators, both of whom were women. For my part, I felt that most of the “mansplaining” was done for Walz’s benefit. However, in the final analysis, neither the good governor nor the moderators probably gained anything from Vance’s efforts. One has to actually be receptive to hard truth and logic for much of it to take root.
There is one important exchange from the debate that seems to have received little attention. It began with Walz touting the importance of following so-called experts in setting policy, seemingly without question. Vance rightly pointed out that it was the path charted by so-called experts who got us where we are now and then began an offensive wrapped around the concept of common sense.
I feel that this highlights one of the defining aspects of what our governance was supposed to be: an expression of the will and wisdom of a nation’s citizenry and not those of a select elite.
This “rule by experts” theme has its roots in the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 20th century. Reformers and academics such as Woodrow Wilson disdained the limits of the Constitution and argued for more central planning and authority placed in the hands of specialists. This simple rootstock has grown into not just a huge tree, but an entire forest that constitutes an unconstitutional administrative state with divisions that touch every aspect of our lives.
This breed of experts is insulated from the results of any policies created and forced on the people who were originally intended to collectively sit above them. The different pods in this bureaucratic maze are directed by an almost faceless gang of Fauci-types, who rise to their positions with little real-world experience or responsibility. Fauci himself is the classic example: a lifelong bureaucrat who joined the government almost the first day out of medical school, who overruled the experience of doctors who had been face-to-face with patients for decades.
Vance chose the correct path by invoking common sense. Despite all the theorists and their punditry, conservatism is nothing else but common sense. It is the retention and application of what works.
Our government was not established to direct the lives of its citizens (or any collection of non-citizens). It was established to secure their liberty. All of the justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, and general welfare was for the sake of liberty. That liberty says individual people have the right to make the decisions that guide their own lives as well as the society they live in. Each citizen is the expert on his own life and its direction as long as the rights of his fellow citizens are respected.
Experts have their place. We all need advice from time to time about different matters. But their role is to consult, not rule.
All of us consult doctors from time to time. We expect a learned and informed opinion from them. But if the doctor-patient relationship is correct, we can accept his opinion or not. We might even seek a second opinion. And a third.
Another example would be the relationship between our military and the Executive Branch, or at least the way it was intended. The civilian authority is supposed to have the final word. The generals are the experts (or they are supposed to be), but the final say is with the civilian commander-in-chief.
War is too cruel and important to be left entirely to those who might love it. The same is true of government.
Those who become entrusted with the operation of government are to be selected not by the degrees they may hang on their walls, but by the trust they build with the citizens they will be charged with serving. Hence the need for secure and fair elections.
Degrees don’t necessarily bring wisdom. Our original system is intended to say that those with dirty shirts and muddy boots can have wisdom (the most important element of most any decision) enough to form the direction of not just their own lives, but that of the nation in which they live. Perhaps we have finally arrived at the place where a wisdom born of a thirst for liberty, mingled with an everyman common sense, can put experts in their place and free us from what has been their arrogant and entitled reign.
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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