Between Populism and Elitism

America is on the verge of a quiet civil war. No, I’m not talking about a war between the political left and the political right, although that may also be brewing. I’m talking about the war between the elites and the populace. The hoity-toity and the hoi polloi, as we might say. Right now these two groups seem increasingly hostile, which is a problem, because we need both of them if we are going to have a healthy, functioning society.

You can probably recognize both sides of this battle easily. The elite would be the doctors, lawyers, politicians, and those who trust them and run in their circles. They have the most recent MacBook Air, and you’ll find them sipping a coffee at Starbucks as they read the New York Times editorial on current events. They tend to live in big cities, and on the coasts, and they are generally college educated. The second group we are going to call the “populace.” They didn’t go to college, they work blue collar jobs, and they can often be found watching football on the weekends and going to Texas Roadhouse.

Now, these aren’t hard and fast descriptions. There are experts in their field who are concerned about the thoughts and opinions of normal Americans, and who line up with them more than with other college-educated professionals. There are coal workers in West Virginia who implicitly trust the institutions and argue with their families about politics. Normie Americans drink Starbucks, and billionaires watch football. But I do think these descriptions are generally true, and that there’s a certain zeitgeist behind each group. From my perspective there is a growing rift between the two, and this should be concerning.

Now, the interesting thing about this war is that both sides can make a great case against the other. So, let me lay out the case for why each side can claim to be right, and then lay out a vision for what we should do moving forward.

The Case for the Populace

First, as Americans, we love the idea of democracy. America came of age in the heyday of the Enlightenment, where increasing attention was paid to the value of each individual. The belief arose that everyone should have a voice. In its noblest version, this idea puts a duty on every citizen to be informed, to study the issues carefully, and to take soberly the responsibility of participating in civil society. At its basest, this becomes the belief that a simple majority vote should always get what they want. But no matter where on that spectrum you fall, it’s hard as Americans to not see the value in democracy.

Plus the elites lie. Not all the time, but enough that it can be tough to trust them. Covid brought some of this to light. “Don’t buy a mask, they don’t help.” “You must wear a mask, they do help.” “Well, yes, we always thought they helped but we were afraid that everyone would buy masks and we wouldn’t have enough for medical workers, so we just lied.”

And even when they don’t lie, they can be dishonest. “No gain of function research took place in the Wuhan lab.” “But we have records that you messed with a virus that was only in bats so that humans could get it.” “Oh, yes, we did do that. However, that’s not technically gain of function research. Experts looked at this and decided it doesn’t qualify.” Was it a lie? I don’t know, I guess not. Was it dishonest and slimy? Sure feels that way to me.

But the list could go on. It could include the APA putting its stamp of approval on grotesque procedures for gender-confused children. It could include the disaster that was the FBI’s handling of the Steele dossier and baseless accusations of Trump’s collusion with Russia. We could point to the fact that Harvard’s president clearly and repeatedly plagiarized, and rather than being summarily fired on the spot was allowed to settle into a cushy teaching position in the same school. It’s not hard to see why some people don’t trust those who are a part of the system.

The Case for Elites

But if we look at the evidence, there have been some really good outcomes. Say what you will about the medical field, but in 1850 the average life expectancy in the United States was less than 40, now it’s over 79. And that’s just one example. When you look around at our country, what we have built is pretty incredible. It’s flawed, as every human society will be until Christ comes back, but the work of politicians, journalists, scientists, and extremely wealthy businessmen have given us a country that is the envy of the world. Maybe we should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

And, to be honest, does it really make sense that everyone should have the same vote? I once saw a video on Twitter where someone who was planning to caucus for Pete Buttigieg was shocked to learn… that he was gay. Now, this was not some sort of secret. In fact, a cynic would say it’s the only reason a mayor of a small town in Indiana was a serious contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. Should someone like that be allowed to vote when they clearly have no idea what is going on? Our founders didn’t give everyone a vote, and they didn’t necessarily imagine that every position would be filled by a simple majority. After all, that’s why we get to argue about the electoral college every four years. And don’t forget that following the crowd doesn’t always work out so well. Just ask all the people who lost their heads in the French Revolution.

Now, I don’t claim to be an elite, but I do have a PhD. The process of studying that went behind that was humbling for a couple reasons. First, I learned through the process of trying to become an expert in one field how much I didn’t know. When you go really down deep on an issue, you realize that other people are going that deep in other fields and even other sub-disciplines within your field. This causes you to give some respect when they speak on the issue they have given their life to master. The other thing it did was show me how easy it is to take complicated issues, twist the data, and make confident statements that include some true facts but dangerously misread them. I’ve seen people do this with Scripture, where they know just enough to be dangerous. Watching this has made me cautious that I might be doing the same thing in science, economics, or other issues.

The Case for Mutual Humility

I think the path forward is to, in both instances, interact with humility and integrity. Dishonesty from those who are supposed to be the experts will continue to erode trust that has been legitimately lost. Arrogance by those with power, a sneering attitude toward “flyover country” or “deplorables” will only deepen the divide and lead to a further loss of influence with common Americans. And for those who are skeptical of those with degrees, keep your skepticism. But make sure it’s an honest skepticism, not a cynical one. And come to issues ready to be proved wrong by people who have worked a lot harder than you to know the issues.

People often say that America is a democracy. Normally, however, if you say this someone will pop up out of nowhere to correct you that it is not, in fact, a democracy but rather a democratic republic. While no one likes being corrected, such annoying people do have a point. Our founding fathers believed that there is wisdom among the people, but that there is a need for capable people to hash through complicated issues on behalf of everyone else. (No, I’m not going to include a joke here about the intelligence of our politicians. Shame on you for expecting one.) No matter the warts and flaws in our system, I think our founding fathers were on to something. We need both. We need the wisdom of average, down to earth Americans, and we need people who are highly trained and specialized. We need mutual humility and trust. We need to find a middle ground between populism and elitism.

Ben Hicks is the Associate Pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis. This article originally appeared on his Substack.