Posted on 11/26/2018 6:24:36 PM PST by TBP
Governments are created to protect person and property, and to ensure liberty. Democracy is a partial means to that end, not the end in itself. Simple majoritarian democracies have a record of running over rights of minorities, including economic minorities. From the time of the ancient Greek city-states, democracies have been established from time to time, but have never lasted. Those longer-lived modern democracies have all restricted the voter franchise in one way or another until recent years. In the United States, originally, the voting franchise was limited to male property owners. Finland was the first country to give women the right to vote back in 1906, and those very democratic Swiss did not give the women the right to vote until 1971.
Under unrestrained democracy, majorities can tax or regulate minorities almost out of existence, or vote for people who destroy the democracy — as did the Germans in voting for Hitler, and the Venezuelans in voting for Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. The American Founding Fathers were well aware of the failures of previous attempts to create democracies, which is why they established the United States as a constitutional federal republic rather than a direct democracy.
A constitution that limits the powers of the state, contains checks and balances, and can only be amended by super-majorities is fundamentally an undemocratic document. The Founders’ contemporary, Scottish historian Alexander Tytler, noted: “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.”
Political jurisdictions most often lose their democratic independence because of the unsustainable spending and debt. probably is only a matter of time before judges, rather than elected officials, are running these states.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
We are a republic not democracy so I did not read much of the propaganda.
Liberty trees often had two flags one with the word Liberty on it and another with Unity on it before the revolutionary war.
Us Americans have proven good at warfare.
Now to save this country we are going to have to get good at lawfare, because the alternative is warfare. - Tom
We are a Constitutional Republic and we need to take our country back. We have ignorant people running America with illegal voting. Think if you have a brain. Our government under Democrats burned 80 American citizens at Waco. They killed Randy Weaver wife in her own home holding a baby in her arms.Now the same people want to get rid of Ice and the Border Patrol so illegals can vote to give Democrats the power to rule. I say it is time for a Revolution in America.That is my personal opinion.The Judicial System in America is corrupt.
Gov’ts are freakated to rule the peeps and aggregate the country’s wealth to the Elite Few.
The US as a possible exception.
People will have to be literally starving before their 9-5, starbucks and big-screen-teevee lifestyle are interrupted with actual thought.
I’m going to continue calling our form of government a democracy, and here’s why. Arguing against democracy is a trap. The stupid nitpicking about the word has led to too many idiots calling the commies “Democratic” in articles. They’re not democratic.
Most voters will continue to perceive democracy as a good thing. Our nation is a democracy of the best kind. And yes, it’s a representative republic. But have a look at the names of some of those foreign governments that call themselves republics and consider wiser, more convincing political speech.
Our nation has the most viable democratic government on the planet as evidenced by our votes counting more than votes count in other countries and for a longer period of time. So go ahead, post those long rambling arguments nitpicking about semantics. I’ll still call the U.S.A. a democracy and a fine one, too.
Republicans are more democratic than Democrats. And a Democrat politician is not “Democratic.” That’s retarded. Oppose retarded linguistic activism, because wasting America’s time with it is moronic.
I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that the only way to save the country is through a Washington taking power and disenfranchising huge numbers of people. All of the refugees brought in under Obama, immigrants, illegal aliens and their children, will have to be removed, or else they will out-vote us in less than 8 years giving the Democrats permanent majorities. We are barely holding on to Georgia, and it wasn’t that the Democrats are just really compelling. It’s because of immigration and white flight from crime ridden areas.
A pure DEMOCRACY is two wolves and a sheep discussing what to have for dinner. If you’d like to know why so many – mainly LEFTIST politicians INTENTIONALLY describe America as a DEMOCRACY, read on.
The Founding Fathers had utter contempt for democracy. James Madison, principle author of the Constitution, wrote this in Federalist Paper No. 10, “...there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual.”
He went on: “Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.”
At the Convention, Virginia Gov. Edmund Randolph said that “in tracing these evils to their origin, every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” John Adams wrote: “Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide.”
And Alexander Hamilton said: “We are now forming a republican government. Real liberty is found not in the extremes of democracy but in moderate governments. ... If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy.”
bump
When this country was founded only taxpayers could vote; the Founding Fathers foresaw everything happening today, and took steps to prevent it.
Fair enough, but we’ve been a democratic republic 1913. Scotus regards the franchise (and abortion), and not liberty, as a fundamental right.
I’d also like to see revolution. The peaceful kind through Article V.
Bingo. Repeal the foolish 17th Amendment.
Abolish the 17th Amendment!
I have a question. If there are 57 states (as Obama said), why are there only 100 Senators ?
If this is your notion of propaganda then you need read more of it.
The American Founding Fathers were well aware of the failures of previous attempts to create democracies, which is why they established the United States as a constitutional federal republic rather than a direct democracy.
Agree 100%!
Whatever it takes to be successful!
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