Written by Beth Carter   

In the early days of this country’s history, government officials meeting with the Native elders evoked the image of the “Great White Father” in Washington. Going on about the miscalculations and misdeeds done to the Native nations is not the focus of this article; we are still blaming our young daughters for adult male indiscretions. No, there’s no traction there yet. How did we come up with the “Great White Father” bit? What was the basis of that notion?

Prior to the United States, there were monarchies or individual tribes. Emperors and kings swore fealty to a divine source and to the nation to reassure the populace that the motivations and intentions of the ruler had their best interests at heart. These rulers were approved, authorized, and sanctified by the prevailing religion so as to seal the people’s obedience in spite of the human failings of the age-of-rule yet to come. The ruler was considered to be more than human. However, debauchery proved that false. Ruler after ruler came and went. Some cared for their people more than others, but coups and wars, politics and payoffs made it clear to many over centuries of time that such exclusionary tactics did not improve the ruler or the rule of law. Thus the impetus for the United States developed. Emperors and kings often behaved as if the nation (its resources and its people) were their own personal play toys. Being sanctified by the religion of the day often set the monarch so high above the common people their interests were lost beneath the clouds of sycophants and power brokers as they amassed in great numbers. The yearning for the concerned, wise parental figure to lead a nation haunts us to this day. The “Great White Father” has been sought by every nation at some point in time, found by precious, lucky few. Today if we find one, we pray he lives long enough to complete something worthwhile.

There is a tension between the needs of the people and the desires of the power brokers. The latter wants a pliable parent, not an effective one. The former needs an effective parent, not a pliable one. Power brokers followed in the footsteps of diplomats out to meet the Native elders to later return without them. Dirty tricks and frat pranks cost millions their lives. Very little has changed about that.

The dream of the United States is to be different from the monarchies and empires of eras gone by, but that is not the case. We have lip-service difference, but our actions reap similar results. Power brokers insinuate that there is no wise altruism. They also say that people are animals when in packs. When a young child is insulated from reality, abrupt introduction to reality can result in tantrum and/or trauma. The insulation allows the child a large blind spot. The result is that the child does not mature, becoming petulant and demanding. This is not the fault of the child, but of the parents. They intentionally delude the child, thinking it will result in a happier childhood, thus, the whole “ignorance is bliss” thing. If the child grows into adulthood without ever facing reality, he will inevitably become some sort of tyrant. (Tantrum and trauma always worked before--why not now?) Power brokers use this phenomenon to convince officials that to introduce reality to the regular layman would have untold catastrophic consequences, right after the benefits of the power brokers’ work is paraded with subdued sadness and frustration with the ungrateful child for their work on the child’s behalf. Actual motivation of the power broker is always to secure power through routine. Should the populace be faced with a reality, say, that aliens do visit, the balance of power in the social strata would shift dramatically and unpredictably which would throw the power broker’s whole game off. That is entirely unacceptable to him. A power broker’s real investment is in insulating ignorance. They create the aliment, dicker around with research looking for a cure, and denigrate the sick, all the while profiting in actualized and political currency. After all, the inexperienced are such easy prey. This key point is exactly why we seek a wise parental leader. It is exactly why an effective leader haunts and eludes us. We are easy prey. In the days of the revolving door between government and big business, the power brokers suck our very marrow. Saying that the government should be run like a business is to allow the broker to become the ruler and the rule of law—it would be a bloodbath. Hitler thought government should be run like a business, too. It’s called Fascism.