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Here's a letter that I wrote and sent into our local
newspaper. Of course they didn't print it; that would
require thought and attention.
I would like to raise local awareness regarding the
differences between a Democracy and a Representational
Republic form of government.
The government of the United States is not a Democracy, but
rather a Representational Republic. While a
Representational Republic can work for a populace of any
size, a Democracy doesn't scale beyond a few thousand
people. In a Representational Republic, representatives
are elected who make decisions for us. In a Democracy,
every citizen votes on every decision.
No state may join the United States unless it is a
Republic. The U.S. Constitution guarantees to every state
a Republican form of government (Article 4, Section 4).
Minority individual rights are the priority. The people are
protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority and have
natural rights instead of civil rights. One vote in a jury
can stop all of the majority from depriving any one of the
people of his or her rights.
In a Republic, the sovereignty resides in the people
themselves, whether one or many. One may act on his own, or
through his representatives, as he chooses to solve a
problem. Further, the people have no obligation to the
government. Instead, the government, since it has been
hired by the people, is obliged to its owner the people.
In a Democracy, the sovereignty is in the whole body of the
free citizens. The sovereignty is not divided into smaller
units such as individual citizens. Individuals have duties
and obligations to the government, and the government's
only obligations to the citizens are those legislatively
pre-defined for it.
In a pure democracy, 51% controls 49%. In a democracy there
is no such thing as a significant minority. There are no
minority rights except civil rights (privileges) granted by
a condescending majority.
Out of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution,
only five of them apply to citizens of the United States.
In simple terms, a democracy is a dictatorship of the
majority, otherwise known as mob rule.
In the United States, we do not have a democracy. Educate
yourself on the fate of ancient Greece, and you'll
understand why.
Finally, a favorite saying of mine that I made up:
How many times in the history of mankind has a government
not abused a power that the people have given it?
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