Democracy. The voice of the people. The lifeblood of the United States. The thing that makes America great. Or is it?
I’m sure we’ve all seen that clip of the opening from episode 1 of HBO’s The Newsroom. It circulates around social media every now and then, and every time it pops up, I watch it. The girl from the audience asks a panel of commentators what makes America the greatest country in the world. Two of the panel members give a cop-out answer on diversity and freedom, respectively. The third member of the panel, Will McAvoy (the show’s main character), finally gives his answer and goes off.
He mocks the guy who answered with freedom saying “You’re going to tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only country in the world that has freedom?” He goes on to say that there are 207 sovereign states and some 180 of them have freedom.
So if our freedom doesn’t differentiate us, neither does our democracy. We aren’t the only the country in the world that is a democracy. We aren’t even a country that is a democracy. Contrary to what most people believe, we’re not a democracy. Because democracy is bad. And the Founding Fathers understood this.
A republic is a government system in which citizens elect their government to represent them in law making. A democracy is a government system in which citizens vote on all laws. The Founding Fathers understood the differences and were well aware of the dangers of a democracy. Democracies are the rule of the majority. Regardless of whether the majority is right, wrong, or indifferent, they get their way.
Ben Franklin said “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”
Thomas Jefferson thought “a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.”
John Adams said, “democracy will soon degenerate into anarchy; such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure…”
Article IV Section 4 of the Constitution says that “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union, a republican form of government…”
It’s pretty clear that the Founding Fathers preached against the dangers of democracy. And right now, we’re discovering them for ourselves. All the dangers manifest themselves in one man: Donald Trump.
There’s a reason protesters get removed from his rallies. There’s a reason his people have kicked out reporters, journalists, and cameramen. Because the founding fathers were right.
The Constitution gives us the right to free speech. For the most part, we can say what we want, when we want, where we want. To restrict or deny any part of that is completely unconstitutional. But Donald Trump does it. And that’s a perfect example of why democracy is bad. Protesters are certainly in the minority at his events, and this puts them at major risk. They become overpowered, their freedom to speak their mind is denied, and they are removed.
This perfectly exemplifies mob mentality. In a republic, the minority’s right to speak their mind, though it may be against the grain of the majority, is protected. In a democracy, the majority wish for the removal of the protesters, so they are removed. The fact that removal denies an individual right is ignored.
The Constitution also gives us the right to free press. We have the right to write, produce, or publish, essentially whatever we want, without government restriction and censorship. Now, this doesn’t mean that someone is free of the consequences of their publication, but it can’t be censored or restricted. Again, to deny any part of this would be to deny the Constitution. And again, Donald Trump is guilty.
There have been countless videos of reporters and their accompanying camera workers being forcefully removed from Trump events for asking questions that Donald doesn’t like. Other videos show cameramen being told to only direct their camera in a certain direction and never at Mr. Trump. Violation of these instructions resulted in the cameraman’s removal from the premises.
In a republic, the press’ right to roll footage or gain information at a public event is protected by the constitution, regardless of whether the masses agree or disagree. In a democracy, there is no precedent. If the majority wishes for a certain group of people to not get their message out, that message won’t get out. Regardless of its truth or importance.
It’s really that simple.
A vote for Donald Trump may or may not be a vote for a racist, bigoted, megalomaniac. But those things don’t really matter. Because a vote for Donald Trump is a vote for the exact form of government that the Founding Fathers warned us about.
We didn’t listen when George Washington warned us about the dangers of political parties, only to later discover he was right. So let's not repeat our mistakes. This time, we should listen.
