Democracy came from the ancient Greeks… if it worked, Greek would probably be the dominant language spoken throughout the world today. Aristotle described democracy as a perversion of constitutional government and tyranny by the many, ultimately leading to revolution.
Inspired by Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, an example of democracy may be represented by two wolves and one sheep deciding what to have for dinner; freedom, on the other hand, is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
The American founding fathers feared and even loathed democracy, described by James Madison in Federalist # 10, as “the violence of faction.” A faction represented an organized group of individuals interested in forcing their views on all other people. And, just to be clear, the word democracy is NOT even written in our Constitution!
The Founders provided Americans with a “Republican Form of Government,” a limited government whose primary purpose was to protect the natural rights of individuals against the whims and aspirations of the majority; and, against enthusiastic “factions” or minorities with an agenda. Yet today, Americans are no longer living in a free country; they are subject to the changing rules of the power-elites that control government, with the promise of democracy substituted for natural rights.
Some Americans with the right schooling and talent can become professional politicians or career government employees or consultants, legitimized by the new religion, democracy; and, with the promise that they have an equal opportunity to participate in the plunder of their fellow citizens. As the late Dr. Will Durant concluded, democracy is now taking “its turn in the misgovernment of mankind.”
The experiment in individual freedom started by the Founders has been reversed. “Ignorance of . . . history, coupled with an inability to think critically,” according to Professor Walter E. Williams, has allowed the power-elites that control government “to undermine the legitimacy of [the] Constitution to gain greater control over [the] lives [of all Americans].” “The teaching establishment at . . . public schools and colleges, is being used to undermine American values.”
To stop this reversal, we must separate Education from State and get rid of government-controlled compulsory schooling. Otherwise, the experiment in individual freedom will be “defeated by the high birth rate of unwilling or indoctrinated ignorance.” Dr. Will Durant
Dum Spiro, spero—While I breathe I hope.
Slainte mhath,
Robert G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.