Dakota Beacon

What happens when our national leaders divide rather than unite Americans; when leaders no longer inspire a sense of pride in the people? To put it another way, what happens when our national leaders no longer extol the virtues of American exceptionalism but, instead, exploit class envy for political advantage? What becomes of the American spirit and the American Dream?

When class envy is exploited, there is no longer a reason to strive to become exceptional if it results in a person becoming a target of vitriol and hatred. This results in the strangling of the American dream.

These points and others are addressed by Victor Davis Hanson in his article “A Nation of Peasants.” Hanson was Professor of Classics at California State University, Fresno, and is now Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute. He is the author of several books including “Fields Without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea” (1996) and “The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization” (1999). He and his family live and work on his family farm near Selma, California.

His article is so concise and instructive it is worth recapping. Quoting his opening words, “Traditional peasant societies believe in only a limited amount of good. The more your neighbor earns, the less someone else gets. Profits are seen as a sort of theft; they must be either hidden or redistributed. Envy rather than admiration of success reigns.”

The peasant mindset holds that, if some people cannot excel, then no one should be allowed to excel. Hanson sees this as the epitome of liberal and leftist thinking bent on enforcing equality of results rather than equality of opportunities.

To verify this he shows how people who succeed are attacked every day and used as examples of greed. Those in the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, bankers, and businessmen in general are held up for ridicule.

Americans have been pummeled into a peasant mindset by the dominant media, academia, and pop culture. We are told that success is ultimately a product of greed. Nothing but criticism flows from our national leaders and is reinforced by messages on TV, in newspapers, and in the classroom. We eat too much, we’re too fat, and we consume too much salt. We don’t exercise enough. We drive the wrong cars. We use the wrong light bulbs and consume too much energy. American climate deniers are destroying the planet.

Attacks on the American people never end. Every day the elite blame the achievers, the people who make the country run, for the ills of our country and the world at large. After a while people begin to believe the criticism and mentally crouch down in a defeatist attitude.

We are never told that 1% of taxpayers pay at least 40% of all income taxes collected and that 40% of income earners are exempt from federal income taxes.

Conversely, with a steady drumbeat we are told that those who earn over $250,000 a year are obligated to give up 60% of their income in income taxes, health care taxes, state income taxes, capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes -- the list goes on.

Little wonder that Hanson should write about a “peasant mindset.” That state of mind has been a long time in the making. Destroying people who excel has always been an objective of the American left. They intrinsically view those who get ahead as having done so unfairly. Advantaged people constitute a class to be leveled. If everyone cannot be ahead, then no one should get ahead. Therefore, it is in the interest of the American left to foster a peasant mindset.

The peasant mindset expects businesses to agree that they have made enough money and should not pursue further profits. Nevertheless they expect businesses to gladly hire the unemployed and buy new equipment. They expect businesses to pay higher health care costs and income taxes.

In a word, the peasant mindset is content not to improve their lot in life as long as the “rich” get punished. The root of happiness is seeing achievers lose.

Hanson concludes: “What optimistic Americans used to call a rising tide that lifts all boats is now once again derided as trickle-down economics. In other words, a newly peasant-minded America is willing to become collectively poorer so that some will not become wealthier. The present economy suggests that it is surely getting its wish.” That is, until President Trump came into office.

When was Hanson’s piece written? Last week? No. It was written in 2010 but could have been written today. Some things never change -- especially in the drift toward a peasant mindset.

Victor Davis Hanson’s piece “A Nation of Peasants” is clear, concise, and complete. It deserves to be read and re-read – especially by millennials.