Who Will Face the Balrog?

If you have not read the Lord of the Rings trilogy - not just watched the movie (though excellent), but read the books, I encourage you to do so. I'm in no position to assign homework, but if I were, I believe this is a must read for the character development of every youth at an age-appropriate time in his/her development. If you were NOT given this assignment, or were not so much of a reader in your youth, please go back and enjoy a damn good story which is much more than just a story. Tolkien wrote this book over an extended period, much of which was in the prelude to; and the execution of, the Second World War. Those were dark times - as are these. The Ring of Power, the Dark Lord - the struggle of the simple hobbit whose only wish was to return to his beloved Shire and his garden - these are all obvious metaphors for the greater struggle of good and evil, of power over individual rights and liberties that the world faced in the middle of the past century, and which we face today.

So my question for this blogpost is "who will face the Balrog"? In the famous scene ending the first book of the trilogy, Gandalf the wizard. faces a Balrog who is attempting to prevent the "Fellowship of the Ring" from continuing on their quest to destroy the 'Ring of Power' in the fires of Mordor where it was forged - the only heatsource strong enough to destroy it. The danger of the ring - a metaphor for the 'absolute power which corrupts absolutely' is that it cannot be wielded without corrupting the wearer, a constant theme throughout the novel. Being blocked from the mountain paths, the fellowship is forced to go through the mines of Moria, which they find has been destroyed, the dwarves killed by armies of Orcs and finally a Balrog. Gandalf has explained to Frodo, the simple Hobbit from the Shire, that the dwarves who established their kingdom in Moria had "delved too deeply in their greed" for gold, and particularly mithril - a lightweight silver. Escaping from the army of orcs, the group must pass over a final bridge and the Balrog makes his appearance. Gandalf uses all his powers, telling the Balrog famously, "You Shall Not Pass", ultimately destroying the Balrog but sacrificing himself in the process.

We, in the "Shire" that was the American ideal of individual liberty - which never was and may never be, but is certainly an ideal worth striving for - are again (and possibly always have been) facing the Balrog which attempts to prevent us from continuing on our journey. I will not say the Balrog is liberalism (in the modern sense of the term, which is truth upside down - our founders established the principles of Liberalism, the idea that the individual has rights which supersede the power of the state), nor Democrats, nor even Progressivism. Most liberals/democrats/progressives simply want a more fair and just state - ideals we should all embrace. The danger - the Balrog, if you will - is totalitarian statism - ultimately, this is the absolute power which the Ring is a metaphor of, and which both parties of Mordor (Washington, D.C.) seek. Standing in the way of the Balrog is the Constitution which limits the power of the state. It does not grant or create rights in any way - it limits power. So, the Constitution itself is Gandalf, telling those who seek the absolute power of totalitarianism "You Shall Not Pass!".

But Gandalf is faltering. The Constitution gets its power from "We, the People" who ordained it. In our greed, we have delved too deeply and we face the Balrog. Our greed stems from the envy, the covetousness of wanting what others have. The greed of "the others" is also to blame, as they have used their wealth to buy representation from those who take an oath to defend the Constitution which they usurp and now represent "the others" and not their own constituents. WE must support Gandalf - the Constitution - as it faces the Balrog. The Balrog of the federal government has grown too strong and too corrupt to expect that any hobbits we send to Mordor can have much effect, though we must continue to seek to send them, in the hope that there will be some who will not succumb to the power of the Ring. But it is here - in our respective humble Shires - that the battle must be fought. We must elect and support state legislators and governors with the courage to face the Balrog; to stand up to the power of Mordor and reverse the tide. And we must support them with our 'lives, our property and our sacred honor'. The time is long past to meekly accept the unacceptable. The Shire is in danger. WE must stand in the breach and tell the Balrog, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

Eric