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Dead Presidents (to Represent Me)
Why the American Dream requires more capitalism and less democracy By M. Harrison
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Say what?)
I'm out for dead presidents to represent me
- Nas, "The World is Yours"
What is the American Dream, really? The dictionary definition is "the traditional social ideals of the United States, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity." Sure. But in practice, these vaunted ideals are often mutually exclusive. One needs only to consult a television to see material prosperity continuously creating social inequality, and democracy (e.g., populism on free trade) continuously threatening the institutions of material prosperity.
 Today's conflict over the American Dream is usually defined by the two places in which most people try to find it: the free market and the government. Disputes over economic rights and political rights, especially when the two conflict, are perhaps the most common political grievances. When the expansion of one value requires the limitation of another, such as on trade, immigration, health care, Social Security, etc., someone has to draw the line somewhere. Open competition or popular regulation? Free expression or social stability? Strong economic growth or an equal distribution of wealth?
Americans today still grapple with the question of whether the American Dream is more about economic prosperity through the marketplace or government control through democracy. Or, in other words - are Americans' hopes and dreams in the 21st century better served through money bearing the likeness of dead presidents, or through political choices among the living ones?
Dead presidents to represent me
American rap music answers this question by starkly eschewing politics. Rappers, next to drug dealers, are perhaps the most despised figures among American politicians, and no change in that status quo is expected anytime soon. From a continual rain of financial sanctions from the FCC to endless homiletic denunciations from moralizing politicians and pundits, rappers face astounding levels of political flack that would even make Larry Flint blush. Not even liberals will go on record defending the likes of Ludacris, 'Lil Wayne, or even Kanye West.
But instead of depending on representation from existing politicians, rappers have long exalted the representation of "dead presidents" in the form of cold hard cash. As we've noted previously, support for free market capitalism is one of the most universal themes in modern rap. As the free market has allowed them to experience the lavish appreciation of their talents, the hip-hop culture has lionized bootstrapping entrepreneurship.
Not only has rap adopted financial status as a dispositive index of skill, but the genre has widely adopted capitalistic norms as universal values. In sampling of Nas' defense of market mobility as the superior means for self-representation, rapper Jay-Z expands these pecuniary themes on his own track called "Dead Presidents":
J.A.Y hyphen, controllin', manipulatin'
I got a good life, man - pounds and pence
'Nuff dollars make sense, while you ride the bench
Catch me swingin' for the fence - dead presidents
Why dead presidents are better than living ones
The presidential candidates' platforms are replete with the latest and greatest program that will make voters' dreams come true. From increased spending on pork barrel legislation to targeted tax breaks, and from regulation to confiscation, politicians have dreamt up a staggering array of political efforts to try to bring the American Dream to every citizen.
But the trouble with Democracy as the means for independent self-governance is that too many other people have their eyes on the same prize - namely, political power. Vested political classes make change difficult, and a majority-rules voting system leaves political minorities incapable of gaining influence unless it happens to be convenient for everyone else. Because most American Dream-seeking policy proposals harm one group at the expense of another, gridlock is the norm. "Please everyone" is the name of the game we call politics, and as expected, it usually pleases no one.
By contrast, the free market is remarkably adept at securing the American Dream for everyone. Even when racism was the defining American ethic and Jim Crow laws made political freedom an impossible dream, great achievers in athletics and music were able to break the color barrier to their own economic freedom. The free market has long helped improve the prospects of oppressed people well before their oppressors granted true manumission. Today, while rappers are still personae non gratae in Congress as well as the living rooms of mainstream America, the patronage of a rapt young audience can help them achieve status and success that would be impossible without the modern economy.
Unlike democracy, free market capitalism has strong incentives to help minorities of all kinds. While successes in politics often sacrifice an unpopular minority to the will of the majority, successes in business are usually discoveries of unsatisfied groups in niche markets. The political incentive to stay in power spurs politicians to endlessly regulate and resist change, while the market incentive to make money spurs entrepreneurs to diversify and innovate. For more evidence of this principle, contrast Russell Simmons with Strom Thurmond.
Neither markets nor governments are perfect. Both often fail, buckling under the weight of human error, bad chance, or dishonest motives. Racial discrimination is perhaps the greatest example of such failure; years of atrocious government policies have resulted in failed schools, chronic incarceration, little economic opportunity and rampant crime. But rappers face these challenges, and rather than seek the assistance of the state, they resolve to climb their way past them through the free market.
Moreover, because economic growth in the free market is value-added, the rappers' pursuit of Benjamins also benefits society at large. In addition to their own sizable personal contributions to economic growth, many successful rappers start their own companies, helping to create jobs in their communities. By contrast, political disputes over government power are usually zero-sum, demonstrated by decades of mostly unsuccessful federal legislation to integrate schools and other institutions. While these political expressions have mostly resulted in social backlash with little empirical social gain, market-based innovations such as iPods have brilliantly facilitated the cross-cultural appreciation of musical art.
This organization concurs with Nas, and we wish more intellectuals would listen to the message of hope inherent in entrepreneurial capitalism. We believe the American Dream is always found in the marketplace much more easily than the halls of Congress, the White House, or the Supreme Court. We're about real democracy. We're out for dead presidents to represent us.
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