Ben vs. the Oligarchy, Part II
Nobody's perfect.
Happy 319th birthday to the greatest American who ever lived. I ran out of time to finish this article for January 17, so this is Part II.
Pobody’s Nerfect
When one idolizes a larger-than-life person, it can be easy to ignore or dismiss their imperfections. Americans are often guilty of this regarding our nation’s founding fathers.1 We want to lionize them.
Benjamin Franklin was clearly an imperfect man,2 but he seems more self-aware and open to change than most modern leaders.
He started his career as an outlaw after illegally running away to Philadelphia from his apprenticeship at his brother’s print shop in Boston.
As I mentioned in Part I, however, he was highly entrepreneurial and became wealthy as Philadelphia’s top printer and publisher through genuine hard work and clever marketing. His newspaper, the Philadelphia Gazette, was extremely popular, as was Poor Richard’s Almanack.3
The business decisions that transitioned him from wealthy to super-wealthy ( by 18th-century standards) are, frankly, similar to some of the things we see today.
As his apprentices completed their service, for example, he invested in helping them set up their own print shops and newspapers. In time, he owned interests in newspapers and publishers throughout the colonies — the first media empire in the Western Hemisphere.
Savvy…or Corrupt?
Consider this: The three richest men in the United States each own a major communication channel. Musk owns X, Bezos owns The Washington Post, and Zuckerberg owns Facebook, Instagram, and more.
In 2025, it’s become painfully clear that all of them are willing to use the channels they own to achieve their personal goals, and many Americans (myself included) believe that’s inconsistent with democratic principles.
Benjamin Franklin invented this strategy over 200 years ago. King George appointed him Postmaster for all the colonies, and there is no doubt that he used that position to give preferential treatment to the newspapers in which he had interests. His ownership over both content and the primary means of delivery helped make him uber-wealthy.
Meanwhile, he invested in real estate and other ventures — all while serving in the Pennsylvania Assembly and crafting laws that impacted real estate speculation and his other investments. When he died in 1790, he was the fourth wealthiest man in America.
Give me Liberty…
However, we have to put Franklin’s entrepreneurship in context. First, when Franklin was building his empire, the word “entrepreneur” had yet to be coined, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations had yet to be published, and mercantilism was the prevailing economic model.
For tradesmen and merchants in Franklin’s day, “liberty” was a concept that applied primarily to business. It was not relevant to slaves, indentured servants, or women.
The American tradesmen and merchants revolted against England’s attempt to violate their liberty by taxing them.
The Americans argued that their colonial assemblies should levy taxes, and then remit funds to England when presented with bills.
Historians debate how sincere that argument was, but my point is that Franklin lived at a time when using one’s connections and public position to expand one’s business and wealth wasn’t just accepted, it was celebrated. It wasn’t corrupt by the standards of the day.
Later in life, Franklin came to understand that the system he had benefitted from was fundamentally unfair.
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
Franklin’s years in England, serving as the official representative of several colonies, helped him recognize that oligarchies are bad for business. Most importantly, Franklin disliked the corruption of the British Parliament. Barbara Tuchman called it the “who’s in, who’s out” form of policymaking in which various factions of aristocratic and wealthy men vie for the Crown’s favor, leading to folly.
I’m sure the corruption of the incoming American government, in which personal loyalty supersedes, well, everything, and the wealthy are throwing money and service to the regime, would have disgusted him.
Franklin wanted the new nation to be governed by men who were chosen by other men based on their qualities and accomplishments, not on their wealth or family. But he understood just how hard it would be to maintain that kind of government.
According to James McHenry, on September 18, 1787, the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Franklin whether America would have a republic or a monarchy. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We’ve managed to keep it for 237 years. Let’s hope we can keep it for a few more centuries.
Addendum
Franklin produced a list of virtues that I try to read regularly, as they are virtues I would like to possess.
Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
I believe that one of the tipping points in the country’s hard-right swing was the increase in volume and tone of those calling on us to reckon with some of those imperfections. But that’s an article for another time.
Franklin owned slaves who worked in his home and shop. In his later years, he freed all his slaves and became an abolitionist. He was also a lousy husband who spent years away from his wife and did not return even when he knew she was dying. These are facts with which one must reckon when considering his life.
As a small boy, I was fascinated with Poor Richard’s Almanack simply because my name is Richard.