THE VIEW FROM HERE - Although the authors of the Federalist Papers did not use such crude words as “the masses are asses,” the meme sums up their opinion on why democracy is the worst form of government except for tyrannies. Alexander Hamilton authored the most 51, James Madison wrote 29 essays, including the highly influential Federalist No. 10 and No. 51, and John Jay wrote 5 essays with 3 collaborative essays, focusing primarily on foreign policy and international relations.
They also knew that men were inherently corrupt, which they usually called “ambitious.” In 1887, Lord Acton coined the famous meme, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
In Federalist No. 1, Alexander Hamilton explicitly explained democracies collapse into authoritarian rule. Tyrants usually start by pandering to the prejudices of the masses: "...history will teach us that... of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues and ending tyrants." Hamilton would have included Donald Trump and the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) into that definition of demagogues and tyrants.
In the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville also pointed out that the masses so love the concept of equality that they will eagerly destroy Liberty in favor of slavery” where everyone has the same amount, except of course for the tiny cadre of rulers. Trump believes that he has the right to pocket billions of dollars from being President, while the DSA proposes a system similar to the old Soviet communist system where the legislature (Congress) is supreme, but the Party controls Congress.
While Trumpism and his cronies are beyond the power of Angelenos to influence the coming November 2026, election, we can slow down the prospects of a despotic racist regime assuming control of too much of America.
As the Founding Fathers and de Tocqueville both knew, the masses’ passion for equality is so great that they are impervious to logic, reason, history and facts. Their “passion [for Equality] is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible; they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery. They will endure poverty, servitude, barbarism, but they will not endure aristocracy.” Too many young Angelenos feel ruled by an aristocracy so that they mistake any difference of outcomes between groups to be solely the fault of White racism and Jewish oppression. They fail to notice that Woke DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, but Wokeism has no room for individual values of hard work and culture.
DEI Wokers demand that they know how to distribute everything in society so that each gives according to his means and gets according to his needs. Thus, Asians were not allowed to earn college admissions by merit of hard work, a supportive family, and a larger cultural framework dating back centuries. Jewish and Asian cultures operate similarly; individuals take advantage of America’s freedom to work hard and long in order to improve so that they can create more and earn more for their families.
Japanese Americas were interred during WW II, and most Japanese had to start over. Vietnamese immigrants after the Vietnam War had to begin their lives a new in a country where they did not know the language. Americans with ancestors from India have the highest average income (Nithya Raman is a millionaire); Taiwanese have the highest educational attainment with almost 75% with college and advanced degrees, and Jews have the greatest intergenerational wealth. There is another correlation; individuals who see that the locus of control of their lives is within themselves have the highest attainment, and individuals who claim that external forces such as racism determine personal outcome have low attainment levels.
After WW II, the group which excelled at overcoming external factors such as racism was the Black Community. Martin Luther King encapsulated the American ethos: judge an individual by character and not by color (or another ascriptive category.) Soon thereafter, Blacks were subjected to a vicious ideology of Victimization which became Identity politics and then Woke DEI. The ideology taught Blacks that their efforts to overcome were worthless as White racism and then Jewish power were too powerful to overcome. If they joined with the Dems, they would force Equality of Outcome, aka Equity. California’s commission (California Reparations Task Force) felt that $800 Billion Dollars, which was two and ½ years of California’s annual state budget, would be needed. California never had slavery and was often a refuge for Blacks fleeing the racism of the South. Mexicans, who had literally trillions of dollars of land stolen after 1848, got zero, zilch, nada, gar nichts except to contribute to Black representations.
The worse part of Wokeism is that tens of millions believe the gargantuan lie that Blacks lack the ability to overcome obstacles to obtain the American Dream. Wokeism also paints all Whites as racist, and all Jews are power mongers by categorizing them as Oppressors and Blacks as Oppressed victims. Many Blacks reject Wokeism and think for themselves. See Free Black thought Website .
DSA-LA has endorsed one of its members, Nithya Raman, for mayor of Los Angeles. City voters will now choose between Raman and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Bass has no known association with the DSA.
In addition to Raman’s association with DSA, in May 2026 during an appearance with political streamer Hasan Piker, Raman agreed that Israel (the Jewish state which American Jews strongly support) was committing genocide in Gaza. Raman also agreed that Israel is an apartheid state. Under International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Anti-Semitism both statements are anti-Semitic. The FBI has noted a surge in violence against American Jews. Such accusations create a "perceived moral urgency," which can lower the threshold for violence. Some feel a sense of justification to attack and kill Jews as a form of "retaliation." See License to Kill Jews
On November 3, 2026, Los Angeles voters may judge Bass and Raman by the content of their characters.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
