Concerning Upward Mobility

Tsar Pyotr Velikiy, alias Peter the Great of Russia, was a better man than many kings were. His cruelties were no worse than the cruelties of many kings; and on the good side of the ledger, he took an important step toward liberty for the common people. What he did was to RECOGNIZE that persons NOT born to the aristocracy, might still have merits worthy of respect. Therefore, when he encountered peasant-class men with outstanding talents, he would recruit them into his service and raise them to positions of real authority. He even did this for one black African, a man whose name I believe was Abraham, a man who had been a slave in Turkey. Abraham was given a respectable job in the imperial government, was allowed to marry a white woman.... and became an ancestor of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russia's most-loved poet. What Peter the Great did in the early 18th century was meaningful. But since his time, the world has moved beyond his degree of progress. In countries like the United States, where there is free enterprise and a representative government, a person of exceptional talent DOESN'T need to hope that an emperor will give him or her that lucky break. We are allowed to create OUR OWN opportunities. This is a distinction which is in danger of being forgotten. Communist nations, and other nations with any kind of ruling elite, will SAY that they respect the worth of their people, because look here, a common person can rise to prominence in the party structure. But they refrain from admitting that THE BOSSES AT THE TOP are the gatekeepers, deciding WHO will be permitted to rise to prominence. In their world, you only get to rise to prominence if you conform to the wishes of the bosses. Thus, a ruling-party system is NO substitute for the freedom America's Founders promoted.