{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 31 - We The People","description":"Politicians are fond of talking about \u201cthe people.\u201d  But who are \u201cthe people\u201d?  That might sound like a nonsensical question but\u2014it turns out\u2014there are a lot of presuppositions baked into the concept of \u201cthe people\u201d and much of the divide between the Right and the Left begins here.  Identifying \u201cthe people\u201d leads us to other important questions, such as: Who speaks on behalf of \u201cthe people\u201d?  And what system of government or society can best represent their interests and protect their rights?   In much of our political rhetoric today we are told that the most democratic expressions best represent \u201cthe people\u201d.  But what lurks behind the belief a direct, popular vote is somehow in the best interest of \u201cthe people\u201d is the assumption is that \u201cthe people\u201d can best be defined as a simple headcount.   They can\u2019t.   \u201cThe people\u201d is not a simple headcount. It is a recognition of sub-groups loosely bound to a larger group, of various interest groups within a nation-state, of factions that voluntarily choose to live in civil harmony with those with whom they don\u2019t always agree and sometimes despise.  Simply blending these sub-groups into one mass doesn\u2019t provide clarity, it only makes our understanding of these collective interests harder to untangle.   One ought to be suspect of any political system which defines who speaks on behalf of \u201cthe people\u201d either too narrowly or too broadly. Circumstance coupled with prudence dictates whether the polling of the majority, or the voice of the perceived \u201cleaders\u201d within each faction, or some truck driver who happened to call into a local radio talk show to weigh in on the matter, or some other means of discerning what \u201cthe people\u201d have to say best represents what \u201cthe people\u201d have to say. In practice, this means we should be suspect of the politician who seems wholly disinterested in \u201cthe people\u201d just as we should be suspect of the politician who seems absolutely and consistently convinced they speak on behalf of \u201cthe people.\u201d ","author_name":"Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values","author_url":"https:\/\/www.savingelephantsblog.com\/","html":"