I’ve only met one man with the first name “Erasmus.” The more famous Erasmus, of course, was the Dutch Christian humanist philosopher of the 15^thand 16^thcenturies. The second Erasmus was a very nice young man who showed me around the Octagon House in Washington D.C., the place James Madison fled to after the British burned the White House in 1814. I toured the Octagon House, which has six sides, back when I was on the National Security Council staff at the now-rebuilt White House. I was even allowed to sit at the desk upon which President Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent, which you recall ended the War of 1812. It’s a very cool place to visit, where very few people show up, so it won’t be crowded. 

I thought of that desk and Mr. Madison when reading two different articles this week. The first article comes to us from Colorado Politics, which discusses the Colorado business connection to the very exciting (if you are a space nerd like me) future launches of the cargo supply spacecraft “Dream Chaser” atop Colorado-based United Launch Alliance rockets. This, I believe is the private sector at its best. I confess, I was not sure about moving space launch capabilities primarily to the private sector – as I was and am a big NASA fan – but it seems to be working out well, and Colorado companies are at the forefront of the new and growing private sector launch business. Makes me proud to be a Coloradan.

But there is a second story, that causes me to be, well, a bit nervous about our gorgeous part of the country. KRCC, the Colorado Springs NPR station, ran a story which noted that the mountain west region is the home to nearly 10% of all white supremacy propaganda, while only containing a bit less than 5% of the population. So, we are a major center for high tech and science, while also containing more than our share of, well, damn fools. And so today in my reading, I was first excited about the space news and then somewhat taken aback by the NPR story. 

Which, naturally, brings us back to James Madison.

Madison was only 5’4″ tall and always wore black. That last bit isn’t important to my point here, but I think it’s interesting. Anyway, as you recall, Madison was the primary co-author with Hamilton of the Federalist Papers (John Jay was the other author, but he only wrote about 6 essays). Madison wrote perhaps the most famous of all the Federalist Papers, Fed 10, which explored the nature of humankind and what type of government would work best.

Madison concluded that “factions” – which today we call “special-interest groups” are inevitable in society. (Humans are “ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious” according to Hamilton in Fed 6). Since special-interest groups will always form, we can’t be rid of them and therefore must settle for mitigating their negative impact. Madison persuasively argued that the cure for the “mischief of factions” was to make sure that there were lots and lots of factions, so that no one group would get too powerful. So, Madison would look at the story about white supremacy and conclude that, because of our Constitution’s structure, there will inevitably be anti-white-supremacy groups to do battle and reduce the impact of any one faction. 

Was Madison correct? I believe the current political climate is a test of that Madisonian thinking, as we are seeing what appears to be at the very least some sympathy for that far-right view, up to and, frankly, including the president.

I posit that the west’s overabundance of supremacy groups may stem, at least in part, from the cultural norms of the west which lean more toward everyone leaving others alone unless there’s a problem. I have friends who have their plots of land out here, and they complain about any governmental interference with their way of life. Perhaps that more laissez faire view of the role of government helps attract those people as the high-tech infrastructure helps attract the space launch business? Maybe.

As yet another aside, I’ve noticed over the years that not a single person calling him or herself a white supremacist appears to be actually superior to anyone. 

And so, we in Colorado should be proud and excited by the entrepreneurial energy we find in the West, while also remaining vigilant as to the other less desirable results of our independent spirit – hate groups. We are helping humankind get back to the Moon and beyond, but we must always remember the implications of Madison’s warning – speak up against bigotry and don’t allow hate to be unchallenged in the free market of ideas. The West rocks, but watch out for the blockheads.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.