A constitutional republic such as ours cannot survive without a strong middle class.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle analyzed the benefits and drawbacks of various forms of government. His comments on the nature of "democracies" are especially valuable to Americans. Aristotle believed that communities are established when men are "drawn together by a common interest," each attaining "a share in good life." This good life is "the chief end, both for the community as a whole and for each of us individually." Aristotle argued that monarchies, aristocracies, and democracies can all be acceptable to the citizens of a country if their constitutions are just: "Those constitutions which consider the common interest are right constitutions," said Aristotle. "Those constitutions which consider only the personal interest of the rulers are all wrong constitutions, or perversions of the right forms."
Justice demands that a nation's rulers -- whatever their number -- be bound by law. Men have a right to expect impartiality when they sue for justice. For this they need "a neutral authority; and law is a neutral authority." The sovereignty of the law must supersede the sovereignty of the ruler. The law is a higher authority than the ruler because it proceeds from a higher authority. "He who commands that law should rule [commands] that God and reason alone should rule," said Aristotle; "he who commands that a man should rule adds the character of the beast."
Democracies inevitably decline when they cease to respect this higher authority and place the interests of any one group above the common good. In so doing, they ultimately destroy their middle classes. Without those middle classes, or "golden mean," democracies are left with "people who are ignorant how to rule and only know how to obey, as if they were so many slaves, and, on the other hand, people who are ignorant how to obey any sort of authority and only know how to rule as if they were masters of slaves." Clashes between the envious and the contemptuous will soon level such a state. "Nothing could be further removed from the spirit of friendship or the temper of a political community," warned Aristotle. "Community depends upon friendship."
The continued existence of a substantial middle class in America is vital to the preservation of our form of government. Every assault upon the middle class threatens to undermine the integrity of that government. The most obvious assault upon the middle class is our confiscatory income tax. The progressive income tax was one of Karl Marx's goals, and he supported it specifically to impoverish the middle class, thereby polarizing society and promoting class warfare. If we are to retain our freedom, we must protect this beleaguered middle class from further encroachment. Efforts to restore our constitutional government would be greatly facilitated by a swelling of the middle class. We are indebted to Aristotle for his exposition of the crucial role that the middle class plays in safeguarding freedom and a just society.
