The word faction is another way to refer to class in a society. When referenced in Federalist Paper #10, a faction could be a majority or a minority of the nation as a whole.
According to James Madison in the Federalist Papers #10, the source of wealth is from an individual with the faculties, which are their abilities and interests, that are sufficient to produce such wealth. Because people have different faculties, we are unable to all have the same interests. It is because of this that the protection of property was sought for, as many would maybe not have the interest of protecting the property of the filthy rich.
I don’t fully agree with this idea that wealth and property is attained simply through an individual’s faculties. Wealth is something that is more than likely handed down, rather than solely attained through an individual’s interest. I’m sure many hardworking Americans have it in their interest to be a millionaire one day, yet there are millions who live paycheck to paycheck and may take their entire lifetime to even make that much money.
The core mission of the government, based off of the Federalist Papers #10, is to protect the different interests and abilities of the people. The reason these faculties are made important is because the owning class needs their faculties protected the most. Yet, they need a government that tries to appease the majorities interests at the same time or at least try to seem to do so. I think this structure is spot on to our society today. Our attention is focused toward culture wars that are made to feel like they are never ending while the institutions that are built to uphold the marginalized and the needy are put at risk, companies are bailed out with taxpayer dollars, and the rich get tax cuts while the wages of the working class stay idle.
I am not surprised that Federalist Paper #10 is in support of a republic rather than a pure democracy. As James Madison wrote, the faculties of all must be protected. This includes the wealthy, and he knew that the owning class’s interests would not be upheld if the majority/working class made the decisions when it came to government. Now, in protecting the faculties of the owning class as much as the majority class, the owning class is left with the most power as they have access to more wealth and resources than the majority class.