Posted on 01/04/2005 9:37:45 PM PST by kattracks
The question has nothing to do with philosophy and documents. It's about the state of things today as they're practiced.
As a matter of fact, we have some parts of the governemnt that act as a republic, some parts that act as a democracy, and some parts that act as a judicial oligarchy.
Walter Williams hit it solid.
I wish civics wasn't an optional class and If only we could teach it.
The Groton influence of Endicott Peabody showed in a speech Roosevelt gave at the People's Forum in Troy, NY in 1912. There he declared that western Europeans and Americans had achieved victory in the struggle for "the liberty of the individual," and that the new agenda should be a "struggle for the liberty of the community." The wrong ethos for a new age was, "every man does as he sees fit, even with a due regard to law and order." The new order should be, "march on with civilization in a way satisfactory to the well-being of the great majority of us."
In that speech Roosevelt outlined the philosophical base of what would eventually become the New Deal. He also forecast the rhetorical mode by which "community" could loom over individual liberty. "If we call the method regulation, people hold up their hands in horror and say un-American,' or dangerous,'" Roosevelt pointed out. "But if we call the same identical process co-operation, these same old fogeys will cry out well done'.... cooperation is as good a word for the new theory as any other."
No, we are a representative republic!
The Communist countries call themselves "Democratic Peoples Republics, but there haven't been any meaningful democratic activities to speak of in any of them.
If it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck and looks like a duck, you can call it a rose, but it still shits through feathers!
We are a Constitutional Republic.
No, we're a Constitutional Republic. Anything else is just a cheap Socialist imitation. Blackbird.
You are absolutely correct when you say that. It is a shame when guys like Rush, Mark Levin and Hannity keep referring to America as a democracy.
And a republic is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner.......only the sheep has a gun.
I 'think' it was a joke.
My daughter has been arguing that we are a REPUBLIC with her CIVICS teacher in junior high. He says we are a democracy!!!
When she asks me why he continues to say this, I tell her that just because he is a teacher, it doesn't necessary mean he is smart...
I've brought up my kids to question everything and not just blindly believe what they hear.. She argues global warming with this same teacher too
He gets very frustrated, but he can't do anything about it 'cuz she is armed with facts... He tried though and tells her to read some bogus bs stuff --- HA HA She's a straight A honor student and he doesn't dare punish her for her ideas
She's learning a valuable lesson here --- how to research ideas/opinions and take a stand for what you believe in.
see post #53
"If we've become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision."
We have. And they are - I GUARANTEE it.
I agree 100% with your assertion and in fact we're far worse off due to the fact that we live in this stautory twilight zone where our we're constantly bombarded with codes, rules, regulations, etc. from city, county, state and fedgov entities. I've heard there are over 60 million codes, reg's, etc. on the books across the country which brings new meaning to the adage that "ignorance of the law is no excuse".
It should be obvious by now that the vast majority of these codes, etc. are designed to exert ever more control over our lives by faceless gov't. entities and/or to extrtact even more $ from us through taxes, permits, fees, etc. In either case I'm quite sure none of this was ever envisioned by our founding fathers.
C O N S T I T U T I O N A L
R E P U B L I C
Period.
We have been since -- oh my goodness -- the CONSTITUTION was ratified by an act of Congress approved February 18, 1791!!!
Before that, we were a Confederacy. The Articles of Confederation were agreed to by the United States in Congress, assembled on November 15, 1777, and were ratified March 1, 1781.
Yeah...OK - this has happened and that has happened...we've been bastardized and blah blah blah. Now, we may very well be a system of tribal chieftains if you listen to some folks' "eclectic" ideas of what/who we are.
Bottom line: Constitutional Republic.
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