October 2, 2023

Democracy: The Fool’s Gold of Politics

Since the founding of our nation, democracy has been praised as the gold standard that every nation should strive to achieve. It is what separated us from the often-times warring monarchies of Europe.

The basic tenet of democracy is that in theory the people rule either directly or through legislators and representatives that they choose. Things like freedom of speech, voting rights, and membership within the democratic community are pillars of this philosophy and ideally always present. However time and time again we are presented with evidence that democracy is not only in a constant state of fragility, but allows those in power to take advantage of gaps in its application.

One of the issues with Democracy is that it allows irrational voters; those that are not fully informed to participate in the direction of the nation. It also allows those who regularly do not contribute to the well being of the nation to decide its fate. In book ten of “The Republic” Socrates believed that the right to vote should not be an indiscriminate right, meaning that voting rights are automatically given to those that just happen to be citizens by birth, but must be given to those who thought sufficiently of their choice.

Democracy also leads to apathy and division of the masses. Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca each came to the conclusion that democracy was illusory, and served only to mask the reality of elite rule, something we see in the United States to be evident. We see that so called democratic institutions shift the exercise of power from oppression to manipulation, institutions like the ADL which throw around words like anti-semitism and most recently domestic terrorist whenever those in power are questioned.

Political Instability due to frequent regime change of democratic nations often results in changes in domestic and international policies. Shifts in domestic policies such as immigration and business handling along with international policies like trade and alliances hinders economic growth and creates a volatile market.

Democracy hinders the processes of a nation because of its frequent stop-go nature that comes with the input and participation required from others (you also have those that will stall or vote against a decision simply out of spite).

Take the most recent decision regarding the keystone pipeline. Republicans largely support it whereas Democrats do not, and as a result, whenever a Republican administration takes control development resumes, whenever a Democrat administration does it stops, resulting in limited progress. This flawed form of government is exploited time and time again because it is both weak in theory and weak in practice.

Democracy in the United States has led to an apathetic population that is predisposed to consent to whatever negative decisions the government takes—even those that are detrimental to the people. A weak and fragile philosophy only results in a weak and fragile nation.

One thought on “Democracy: The Fool’s Gold of Politics

  1. Interesting that my agreement, and criticism of this article are almost schizophrenic. First I agree one hundred percent that democracy is a fraud. Yet our founding was not based on democracy. The founders looked back at ancient Greece and did all they could to avoid democracy. They modified the ancient Roman republic via creating a republic with a written constitution. In any school they white wash history saying: “Yeah, a republic is just representative democracy.” This is the first step to subverting a republic (funny how the Yahudas have perfected that dating back to ancient Rome).

    Jumping to the Keystone Pipe line, and the back and fourth with republicans and democrats that is never ending. General George Washington was dead on: “However Political Parties may now and then answer political ends, they are likely in the course of time and things to become potent engines, by which cunning and ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subverting the power……..” Broken down in simple terms he was referring to the Yahudas, and the higher supernatural power that the state is supposed to protect with force.

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