direct democracy is the only way

[js207]

Democracy is the equivalent of two wolves and a sheep discussing the dinner menu. The founders of this (US) republic considered "democracy" to be a disgusting practice. It is mob rule. As soon as the mob realizes that they can use the power of the state to confiscate the wealth earned by others (which is happening now) those that vote without earning will "spread the wealth". I recall hearing that somewhere......

A concern of Thomas Jefferson I hear (though according to Internet 'quotes' he probably also warned against the evils of spam and Microsoft Windows), and a valid point about needing to safeguard against the abuse of minorities. The US was created from the outset as a representative democracy - i.e. a republic - though: a government accountable to and serving only itself would be even worse than one serving a majority mob. It's the idea of the government handing tax dollars to millions of people every month just because of their age which would really horrify the Founding Fathers, along with a federal government intruding so much, spending so much and borrowing so much.

Now maybe I'm just a cynic, but look back in history. People have done, and still do, horrific things to people they see as different. Just look at the Salem witch trials. The enslavement of Africans. the mistreatment of Blacks, or Hispanics, or Orientals. The forced incarceration of innocent Japanese-Americans during WW2. All rationalized by an adherence to community standards. And a fear of those who are different.

Yes - all of those happened without direct democracy, indeed often with little or no democratic input. Maybe a more democratic system would still have done those things, but would it have been any worse? The government decided without democracy to incarcerate those of Japanese origin, to outlaw homosexuality - would a democratic version have been any worse?

Now, I do think there should be a strong constitution to ensure the individual's life is not interfered with unduly - and I believe the electorate would support that principle, even if jerking knees might prevail in individual cases, which is why you have a judge and jury for individual matters rather than bills of attainder. It's why there's an amendment barring the government from taking property without fair compensation - though that too has been trampled widely of late.

Like Churchill said, democracy's the worst form of government - apart from all the others.

[Thorne]

would a democratic version have been any worse?

There have been claims made (though I don't know on which bases they were made) that one of the reasons the US government incarcerated those Japanese families was to protect them. That there were people who simply wanted to kill them because they were, or looked, Japanese. I've not seen any real evidence of this, but the sad truth is that it wouldn't be too far fetched.

Like Churchill said, democracy's the worst form of government - apart from all the others.

I think ANY form of government is bad, but even the worst government is better than anarchy. The US's democratic republic is probably the best form of government around, especially for a large country with such a diverse population. Yet current events show that even that can be corrupted, used by ignorant lawmakers to oppress various minority groups. Hopefully it can still be fixed.