For me, the passing of time certainly has made a difference. Not just in the loss of hair, or extra notches in my belt, but a difference in how I view my country.
Today when I think about America being a democracy, I shudder. And when I hear that we are trying to push other nations into being democratic, I start to gag.
It’s not because democracy in itself is always a bad thing. One person, one vote, may work quite for small countries. But in very large nations, democracy can gradually disintegrate into tyranny, and tyranny destroys the nation.
That’s why our founders, who knew better than we do, insisted on making America a republic. And also prompted James Madison, the father of our Constitution, to state: “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.”
Now, what would possess the father of our Constitution to say such a thing?
He did his homework and learned from history, that’s what.
When ancient Rome fell it wasn’t because another nation defeated it. It was because Rome defeated herself. The fall of Rome is a prime example of the chaos that results when what begins as a republic (rule by law), gradually morphs into a democracy (rule by man) then becomes tyranny (no rules at all), and finally ends up on the trash heap of history.
If this transition, from pure republic to total collapse, is a well-known, historical phenomenon, isn’t it cruel and heartless to be promoting the idea of democracy to countries around the world? Even worse, isn’t it stupid and insane to be proud of our “democratic” system here at home?
The answer is yes, and yes again.
But wait a minute, you say. If it’s true—and a reading of history proves it—that nations, born as republics, will, if not constantly vigilant, slowly deteriorate into a democracy, then into tyranny, and finally complete chaos, what sets this deterioration in motion? What makes a nation begin to collapse? What is the damning factor that ignites this horror?
Factions.
The reason our founders created a republic instead of a democracy was that they had worried a long time about what they termed “factions”.
What did they mean by factions?
The answer lies in the difference between a republic and a democracy, expressed by how the people of a nation exercise their sovereignty…
In a republic, the people exercise it through representatives elected by the people, or through the organs established by a constitution.
In a democracy, the people exercise the power of sovereignty “in person”; one man, one vote; which at first glance, sounds like an ideal government. And it might well be for small populations, where individual rights are subject to the will of the majority.
But when the population grows into the hundreds of millions (as in the U.S.) the troubling element of “factions” comes into play.
James Madison defined a faction thus: “..a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”
And what keeps a “faction” from dictating its wishes and whims to the rest of society? A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT. The kind of government our founding fathers gave us, but which we have, unfortunately, allowed to drift into a democracy. And we know from history what the next step is.
Want an example of a faction at work in a democracy? Take the anti-gun movement. Here is a group of people united by passion rather than law, and is therefore unmindful of the rights of others. If the anti-gun view were held by the majority (which thankfully it is not) then this “faction” could destroy our right to keep and bear arms.
The danger of a democracy, then, is in allowing “factions” to dictate policy.
The best way to prevent that? Recognize a faction for what it is, turn it around with constitutional facts and principles, and start calling America by its true name.
A republic.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”