“It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy,” he wrote in a famous passage. “It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty.” – John Adams
The great shortcoming of democracy is and always has been the culture, the people themselves. The stupidity and hypocrisy displayed every day on social media is proof of that.
As was noted above, John Adams, and other Founding Fathers, were dubious about the idea of democracy, precisely because it provided the means to weaponize the general stupidity of people.
But isn’t America a democracy?
Well…despite what the anti-electoral college idiots tell you…the pledge of allegiance states, “and to the republic for which it stands.”
The Framers of the Constitution were, again dubious of pure democracy, “have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths”– (Federalist No. 10).
They instead opted for a republic. A democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly–through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, on the other hand, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, by proxy make decisions for them.
Over time, “democracy”, liberalism, has become a bit bastardized, adopted to mean a form of government in which the government derives its power from the people and is accountable to them for the use of that power. In this sense, the United States might accurately be called a democracy. [Read more…]