Don Boudreaux talks about democracy. He says:
Democracy is poorly understood and vastly overrated. Americans knee-jerkily think of it as being synonymous with freedom, or at least as a damn reliable guarantor of freedom. It is neither.
I can agree with that. Most of the times that democracy has been tried it has resulted in… dictatorship, Nazi Germany being one outstanding example. Democracy requires a certain degree of maturity on the part of the public in order to work; even then, I agree with Winston Churchill that it is the worst form of government, except for all the others.
There is something, though, which is much, much better than democracy, and should be used for decision making whenever possible: free choice.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at May 19, 2004 01:20 PMDemocracy is absolutely the worst form of government, including all the others. The US is widely misunderstood as being a democracy. It is NOT! It is a REPUBLIC. The Founding Fathers of America rightly loathed democracy, comparing, or even equating, it with mob rule. No democracy has ever stood the test of time. What's the simplest way to explain the problem? Democracy is two foxes and a chicken voting on what's for dinner. No democracy can stand the test of time. As soon a bare majority realizes it can give itself "free" goodies (through a form of theft known as taxation) the end is near. Already, the top 50% of taxpayers in America pay 96% of all income taxes!!!
So what's a republic? I mean, a real republic, not the various murderous "people's republics" around the world. A republic is basically a form of government that disperses power as much as possible. Read the American Constitution or the Federalist Papers to get an idea. The central (Federal) government was given limited, enumerated powers, all other powers were in the hands of the constituent states or the people themselves.
Has America lived up to this lofty ideal? Unfortunately, no. There is very little that separates it from democracy (aka mob rule) today. The various branches of the Federal government (ie executive, legislative, and judicial) have colluded to emasculate the Constitution, usurp powers that are the proper domain of the states or the people, and basically take away people's freedom.
"A republic is basically a form of government that disperses power as much as possible."
I think we are agreeing, but I'm not sure.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn at May 19, 2004 05:08 PM Permalink