Democracy or liberty?
Does democracy really deserve the praise it receives? According to Webster’s Dictionary, democracy is defined as “government by the people; especially: rule of the majority.” What’s so great about majority rule? Let’s look at majority rule, as a decisionmaking tool, and ask how many of our choices we would like settled by what a majority likes.
Would you want the kind of car you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that question about decisions such as where you live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I’m sure if anyone suggested these choices be subject to a democratic process, you would deem it tyranny.
I’m not alone in seeing democracy as a variant of tyranny. James Madison, the Father of our Constitution, said that in a pure democracy, “there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual.” At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, 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 said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Chief Justice John Marshall observed, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”
Read the rest by Walter Williams
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