The Future Alexander Hamilton Warned About Has Arrived
Our Founding Father envisioned a Senate that was representative of the people. What we got was something else entirely.
This weekend, Americans will gather for a Fourth of July display as highly anticipated as any fireworks show, but far more fitting for the social distancing era: Hamilton will be streaming on Disney+. My fellow Democrats, for whom Lin-Manuel Miranda’s soundtrack has become a kind of hymnal, will eagerly (and in my case tunelessly) sing their way through a founder’s revolutionary rise, political struggles, and untimely demise.
But as we celebrate America’s 244th birthday, it’s worth looking at a bit of the Founding Father’s biography that doesn’t get a musical mention. One of Alexander Hamilton’s guiding beliefs was that our republic should reflect the will of the people, not the will of the states. Today, Hamilton is more popular and respected than ever (even if his extramarital affairs are also more well known, thanks to the musical). But the kind of democracy Hamilton envisioned is increasingly under threat: More and more, America is becoming a country where states have power and people do not.
On issue after issue — gun violence prevention; climate change; taxes; responding to Covid-19; or police…
