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Is Democracy Dangerous?

Is Democracy Dangerous?

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Burning Giraffe

Burning Giraffe

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In another thread titled, "More Americans are Pro-Life than Pro-Choice", it occurred to me, as it often does, that Americans seem to believe that because a majority of people want a certain thing or are against a certain thing, that the government should give the people what they want.

Yikes!

A Constitutional Republic, which is what we really used to be, protected us from the majority and from the government. Now, it would seem, we have very little protection from either.
 
If the rights of states had not been stripped by the Federal government. I think this eventual breakdown of our system would have taken longer.

But yes democracy by itself is nothing but tyranny of the majority.
 
Democracy is prone to abuse, but not dangerous in and of itself. Most good things are prone to some abuse, and people have to be aware and careful to watch out for that abuse.
 
Democracy is dangerous....it is only slightly less dangerous than total anarchy.

Curiously enough, it is only slightly less preferable than total anarchy as well.
 
Burning Giraffe said:
In another thread titled, "More Americans are Pro-Life than Pro-Choice", it occurred to me, as it often does, that Americans seem to believe that because a majority of people want a certain thing or are against a certain thing, that the government should give the people what they want.

Yikes!

A Constitutional Republic, which is what we really used to be, protected us from the majority and from the government. Now, it would seem, we have very little protection from either.
Click to expand...

Even Hamilton and a few of the other Founders feared democracy and "mob rule" as they termed it many times in the Federalist Papers. That is why they advocated a federal system, they feared that like-minded mobs (the states) would attempt to force their will on those of another. This would have been for Virginia, the most populated at the time, to dictate laws to New York or face war. Thus, the Federal Republic was created in order to control the run away emotions of the masses. If one group pushes too far in the extreme, the collected body of states was to balance the behavior.

And even Benjamin Franklin, when asked is this new nation a democracy or republic answered, "A republic, if you can keep it."
 
Of course it is.
Thats why he have a constitution -- to check the power of the majority.
 
Burning Giraffe said:
Could someone, for the love of God, remind our government that such a document exists?
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Its pretty clear that our government isn't all that interested in being reminded of that, given that the large majority of what it does violates it to some degree or another.
 
Democracy certainly can be dangerous. Hitler rose to power through perfectly legal channels in the democratic nation.

I think democracy is dangerous and ripe to fail when the population doesn't have solid belief in the sacredness of the inalienable rights of all citizens. Without that check, it just becomes mob rule and the majority mob can do all sorts of unspeakable things to the minority mob.
 
I have a question, because I think I may have misunderstood the poll. Do you mean Democracy as the type of government, or democracy as in majority rule?
 
Psychoclown said:
Democracy certainly can be dangerous. Hitler rose to power through perfectly legal channels in the democratic nation.

I think democracy is dangerous and ripe to fail when the population doesn't have solid belief in the sacredness of the inalienable rights of all citizens.
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Part of the problem is that an ever-growing part of the population sees government as a means to obtain things that they dont need to work for. Once this happens, a democracy is doomed.
 
Redress said:
I have a question, because I think I may have misunderstood the poll. Do you mean Democracy as the type of government, or democracy as in majority rule?
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Democracy, as a form of government, is predicated upon the principle of majority rule. However, I do not mean pure democracy, where all the people are legislators.
 
Burning Giraffe said:
Democracy, as a form of government, is predicated upon the principle of majority rule. However, I do not mean pure democracy, where all the people are legislators.
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democracy as it is in the US today is not inherantly dangerous in and of itself. It can do dangerous things if we are not vigilant, but of itself, it is not dangerous.
 
Burning Giraffe said:
Are you being literal, or are you implying that the will of the people is merely used to achieve some kind of elitist agenda?
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Never mind that the statement is irrelevant to the topic.
 
Redress said:
democracy as it is in the US today is not inherantly dangerous in and of itself. It can do dangerous things if we are not vigilant, but of itself, it is not dangerous.
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Do you feel a Democratic Republic is preferable to a Constitutional Republic, or do you feel that our current mixture, this conglomeration if you will, of Democratic and Constitutional principles makes for an ideal State?
 
Burning Giraffe said:
Do you feel a Democratic Republic is preferable to a Constitutional Republic, or do you feel that our current mixture, this conglomeration if you will, of Democratic and Constitutional principles makes for an ideal State?
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There is no ideal state, and let me get back to you on the rest. I want to be sure of definitions before I answer.
 
Redress said:
democracy as it is in the US today is not inherantly dangerous in and of itself. It can do dangerous things if we are not vigilant, but of itself, it is not dangerous.
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Yes... but this is several qualifications away from the statement that democracy itself is not dangerous.

Its LESS dangerous here because we, as a people, have agreed that there are certain limits on democracy that cannot be violated -- that the government shall have only limited, specified powers, and that, beyond that, some things are outside the boundaries of what the government can do.

Both of these concepts have been tested for the last 70 years or so,more and more so as time went on, with the result moving closer and closer to the side of an unrestrained 'majority rules'.
 
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Redress said:
democracy as it is in the US today is not inherantly dangerous in and of itself. It can do dangerous things if we are not vigilant, but of itself, it is not dangerous.
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I'd agree and I don't think we're in any real danger of slipping into an authoriatarian state like some people claim. That said, I do believe there has been a slow chipping away of the sacredness of an individual's inalienable rights. Slowly but surely we are accepting more and more government regulation and intrusion in our everyday lives - intrusion that limits our freedom to make our own choices and to live with the consequences of those choices.

And its not just government policy, but a change in the way we view it. I've seen people openly state that don't care about the rights of Group X, they just want their agenda (or preferences) put in place. That should never be acceptable. Violating the rights of one group sets a precedent for violating the rights of any group.

Right now as a people and a nation we still cherish individual liberties and rights, but we're becoming more accepting of small exceptions. I do fear that if the day ever comes when Americans stops respecting the rights of all citizens, democracy could lead us to some very dark places.
 
Burning Giraffe said:
In another thread titled, "More Americans are Pro-Life than Pro-Choice", it occurred to me, as it often does, that Americans seem to believe that because a majority of people want a certain thing or are against a certain thing, that the government should give the people what they want.

Yikes!

A Constitutional Republic, which is what we really used to be, protected us from the majority and from the government. Now, it would seem, we have very little protection from either.
Click to expand...

You bet it is.

I hate democracy on most levels outside of a small group.

Universal voting privileges are squarely to blame for most of the garbage the state and federal government is doing.

One of the biggest fails passed as truth is convincing most people that everyone should have a voice.
 
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