Topic: Events
Obama Claims This is Your Democracy, Really? In a recorded video for his grassroots members hosting economic stimulus plan house parties President Obama claimed “This is your democracy.” Is this the promise of the Declaration of Independence? Was this the goal of the different members of the Constitution Convention, the more perfect union they envisioned for their future generations?by Gary Wood
(conservative libertarian)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
We have heard every U.S. President since Woodrow Wilson make a pitch to the people regarding our country being a democracy and today more people believe it than ever before. When you tell a lie often enough it becomes truth to the ears of the masses. Combining the words with the changes made to the Constitution, (especially the 17th Amendment and the two-party control supported by Supreme Court rulings over the past century), our three pillars of federalism, republicanism, and democracy have been reduced to one, the one President Obama so proudly announces to his supporters is theirs.
It is not surprising to students of history the United States is heading in a downward spiral fueled by government interference through Federal Reserve monetary policies and out of control spending. Newsweek magazine ran a cover story claiming "We're All Socialists Now; with more government spending the U.S. moves closer to Europe." Capitalism requires liberty and personal responsibility if it is to work in the economic realm yet government has long been an enemy of true capitalism as socialism provides the votes necessary to maintain power in a democracy.
Our founders were men of varying beliefs in government as the debates of their day prove. They were also students of the science of government and studied history carefully with an eye toward their goal of forming a more perfect union. Historian Forrest MacDonald, in his 1979 biography of Hamilton, summarized it quite clearly. "The constitutional reallocation of powers created a new form of government, unprecedented under the sun. Every previous national authority either had been centralized or else had been a confederation of sovereign states. The new American system was neither one nor the other; it was a mixture of both."
One lesson the founders each knew well was the lesson of the demise of a pure democracy. There are many famous quotes you can search to gain insight into what democracy was thought to be and why it was not chosen as our main form of government, merely one of the pillars. John Adams stated, "[r]emember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself." Benjamin Franklin's famous lines bring both a smile to the reader as well as a cause for reflection. He said, "[d]emocracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
There is one historian of the times that describes democracy in such a clear focus of what we have seen in our country for nearly a century we must begin to realize our ultimate destination if we continue to embrace our path. Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742 - 1813) was a Professor of Universal History at Edinburgh University. Listen carefully to his whispers from history.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again to bondage."
As late as 1928 the dangers of democracy were being taught to the U.S. Army. Their training manual of that year had this definition. "Democracy - A government of the masses. Authority derived through mass meeting or any form of direct expression. Results in mobocracy. Attitude toward property is communistic - negating property rights. Attitude toward law is that the majority shall regulate, whether it is based upon deliberation or governed passion, prejudice, and impulse, without restraint for consequences. Results in demagoguism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy."
Our current state of affairs is not Obama's fault, nor is it the Democrat or Republican Party alone. For a century we have been reaffirming history's lessons as we have allowed ourselves to buy into the democracy sale by politicians and judges. Where in the sequence are we? Must we return to bondage before we awaken to the fact this is not our more perfect union?
We the people can become well-armed lambs contesting the vote. Armed with education through study and conversation, as our enlightened founders were armed, we can reestablish the pillars of our country while turning back the tide of democracy and socialism. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness work best when the government works least. It is time we demand less from government. It will take courage for liberty always does. Personal responsibility is not an easy burden to carry but it is always easier than the chains we will carry if we reach bondage once again.
In 1817 Thomas Jefferson left these inspiring words. "A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable." Sir Tytler left us a morsel of genuine history and now you have it to ponder and share. There is a value greater than money within the sequence he describes. We now must choose to accept the sequence as our path or change the sequence back to the path we were meant to stay on. Finally, majority rule is not needed to alter the path. "...it does not require a majority to prevail, rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds..." (Samuel Adams)
Remember our history, not our modern traditions that are moving us toward representative democracy. Here is some recommended reading to help begin the stirring of our memory. Study these with friends and family as if you were studying the scriptures of your religion or the stats of your favorite sports team.
The views expressed in this
article are those of Gary Wood only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Gary Wood is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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