Posted on 07/09/2010 4:53:37 AM PDT by IbJensen
I would ascribe such movement to our feckless and clueless weak president.
The fact that the author doesn’t know the difference between a democracy and a republic makes it impossible for me to read this kind of nonsense with a straight face. Democracy is generally a bad idea. A republic, on the other hand, is a great way to go.
first, we’re not a democracy
second, our nation is not the only one awash in progressives.
third, our capitalistic republic was working just fine... better than anything the world had ever seen... until it was slowly choked by progressive dogma
want to save the country? just like saving a choking victim... you need to remove that which is choking them.
Exactly. And, our founders knew it. Many did all they could to avoid the new United States becoming a Democracy. They knew Democracy would ultimately result in mob rule. To call someone a "Democrat" in the founder's time was a huge insult that would usually result in a fight or a duel.
Most of them have been faced with the business end of Obama's middle finger.
Yep! China has a plan, for China. They are buying up the world industries having foreigners work for them. For a while we were told the US housing bubble-boom was real US economic growth, but that all a lie.
I am pasting below a passage from the War Department’s Training Manual 2000-25, November 30, 1928. It was the text book for studying to become an American Citizen. It was immediately pulled and replaced within months of the election of FDR.
Democracy: A government of the masses.
Authority derived through mass meeting or any other form of “direct” expression.
Results, in mobocracy.
Attitude toward property is communistic — negating property rights.
Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate, whether it be based upon deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice, and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences.
Results in demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.
http://www.constitution.org/mil/tm/tm_2000-25/tm_2000-25.htm
It’s overrated only if you’re a socialist/marxist.
The founders LOATHED the idea of a democracy,
because they could “think beyond stage one”
to see the consequences of the idea.
This type of thinking is what “progressives” of today are either incapable of or unwilling to do.
Socialists/Marxists LOVE to tout “democracy”,
because the uneducated masses will invariably
vote for socialism.
Our problem is that we have the franchise to anyone who breathes vs. those who actually have a stake or make a positive contribution to our society. On the other hand, you don’t want all the votes concentrating in the hands of the rich & powerful either. The franchise should be earned, not given out for existing. I liked Heinlein’s idea of only giving the franchise out to veterans. Personally, I think this will only happen when the system totally collapses.
” Yep! China has a plan, for China. They are buying up the world industries having foreigners work for them. For a while we were told the US housing bubble-boom was real US economic growth, but that all a lie. “
Correct
If asked why democracy is better, most Americans would reply something to the effect of, because it brings freedom and liberty. But while this is the popular view, it does not explain why democracy is still attractive to people who have no real grasp of what we think of as freedom and liberty.
When pressed, these same people would say something like, because democracy is better than other forms of government.
And this is far closer to the truth.
The biggest selling point of democracy is that it is more *efficient* than any other system. And while freedom and liberty are complex and subjective ideas, “greater efficiency” make sense to *everyone*, be they an uneducated peasant or a king.
The “salesmanship” of democracy, to sell itself to people, is truly amazing, and what turns a philosophy into a viral revolution. Once a nation is infected with the idea of democracy, it could infect anyone: a shoemaker, an artist, a princess. And there is no way to even tell if they have become a democrat or not. They may do nothing and say nothing, and then out of the blue, make a critical, pro-democracy decision that effects their entire nation.
A great example of this happened, and continues to happen, in rural China. Collective farms would be periodically visited by communist party members, to issue orders as to how to farm. Their job was to obey his orders, even though he likely knew very little about farming.
But even in rural China, television had become available, with maybe one or two TV sets in a small town. And as with everywhere else, some of the most popular shows were game shows. Shows that featured a novel, and democratic notion: voting.
The idea of voting was an amazing concept to these uneducated peasant farmers. It made *sense* to them. So the next time the communist party member showed up to issue them orders, one of the farmers would chime in with an *alternative*, better idea, that all the farmers knew would work better.
He would tell them “No. Do what I say.” And one of them would chime in the equivalent of, “Hey, let’s *vote* on it!”
Well, the more dictatorial party members would still demand that they do things his ignorant way, because. But some of the smarter party members asked why? And the farmers would explain it to him.
Being smart, with just a little flexibility, some of the party members agreed to do farming the farmers way. And when harvest season rolled around, those groups of farmers were way above quota. And in turn, this ended up with the party member getting promoted for doing a good job.
And this is how democracy works. And the idea spreads quickly. Soon it puts the anti-democrats on the defensive, and they can no longer justify their lack of efficiency. Which even an uneducated peasant farmer can see.
Of course, this is low level, basic democracy, which beyond a certain level of organization becomes less efficient, which is where the idea of republicanism comes from. It just makes sense for a large group to have a spokesman, a representative, instead of everybody talking at once.
But the selling point remains. Democracy is just better. More efficient. And as part of the deal, freedom and liberty arrive as a necessary part of the process. Freedom and liberty are like the lubricant that makes the engine of democracy perform better.
To Progressives it's all about power and control. That is all they think about morning, noon and night and it's been that way for nearly 100 years.....
yes, it has long been known that democracy == mob rule.
and the progressives know this... and they control the media... which they use to direct the mob
“The fact that the author doesn’t know the difference between a democracy and a republic makes it impossible for me to read this kind of nonsense with a straight face.”
People (i.e. conservatives) make way too much of the difference. It barely exists. When our founders spoke out against democracy, they took it to mean (after the—bad, in their estimation—example of ancient Athens) pure majoritarianism. Which of course is not necessarily the connotation today. There are such a thing as limited democracy, constitutional democracy, and mixed democracy. All of which mean precisely the same thing as republicanism.
Also, bear in mind we’ve lost (legally) a lot of made us anti-democratic (insofar as we were), for instance via the 17th amendment.
Nailed it. Of course Democracy is overrated. That is why we are a Representative Republic.
You miss the point. The US foreign policy advocates democracy for other countries. This is not about the structure of the US government.
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