Do you know the difference? Unfortunately, most people think we live in a democracy. Every day in the media, in speeches by our elected representatives, the word “democracy” is used as though it were synonymous with freedom.
It is not. Democracy is antithetical to freedom.
Our Founding Fathers were clear on the distinction, and were clear on the fact that they had established a Republic. Not a democracy.
In fact, the word “democracy” appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution.
Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees “to every State in this Union, a Republican Form of Government.”
Our Pledge of Allegiance states “…And to the Republic, for which it stands…”
Refer back to my earlier post on Individual Rights. You were born with them – therefore, sovereign power resides with the Individual. No majority vote can take away your rights.
In a democracy, sovereign power resides in the group as a whole. And so, majority vote rules. Rights can be granted and taken away from the individual. So can property.
The purpose of a republic is to secure the rights of the individual. Our Constitution was specifically designed to limit the powers of government, to assure that the rights of individuals were not compromised. It uses negative language regarding the role of government throughout: “Shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied.”
We are, today, in the downward spiral of democracy. Both on the individual rights front, and on the fiscal policy front.
Alexander Fraser Tytler said: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, followed always by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
What has resulted is a top-down government with central power at the top (federal) and the states all lining up like calves to suck at the teet of the federal government. Exactly the opposite of the intended design.
When asked what kind of government had been established, Ben Franklin stated “A Republic – if you can keep it…”