Why The US Isn't A Democracy (lecture)

[Dejavu]

Interesting lecture by the department chair of the political science department of Duke University and libertarian gubernatorial candidate for the state of North Carolina, Mike Munger.










Someone i can say with 100% confidence i would love to have the chance to vote for. Too bad he ran as a libertarian and as such was only able to get 2.5% of the vote.

And for those wondering the title is not misleading, we are a republic ... not a democracy.

 

[Tagrineth]

And for those wondering the title is not misleading, we are a republic ... not a democracy.

Yup, that's what I was gonna say. Not gonna watch the lecture right now, maybe tomorrow..

 

[Skaw]

And for those wondering the title is not misleading, we are a republic ... not a democracy.

Anyone who doesn't know this just hasn't entered school yet. It's in the damn Pledge of Allegiance for Christ's sake.

 

[Tristam Green]

We're a Federal Republic, not a Republic in its purest form, even.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

Reason number one why I have exercised my right to -not- vote.

 

[Ryou]

Perhaps a better question: why does it matter?

The reason we treasure democracy is that we hold it opposed to tyranny, but that is to confuse form with content. Tyranny and democracy are merely empty forms. You can, theoretically, have malicious democracies and benevolent tyrannies.

I mean think about the sheer stupidity of some people in this country. Take some random idiots you see on Jay-Walking with Leno for instance -- Do you really think their voice should have equal weight in matters of scientific research with say, Steven Hawking?

Unfortunately saying that democracy sucks is just too un-PC to ever work.

 

[Dejavu]

Perhaps a better question: why does it matter?

The reason we treasure democracy is that we hold it opposed to tyranny, but that is to confuse form with content. Tyranny and democracy are merely empty forms. You can, theoretically, have malicious democracies and benevolent tyrannies.

I mean think about the sheer stupidity of some people in this country. Take some random idiots you see on Jay-Walking with Leno for instance -- Do you really think their voice should have equal weight in matters of scientific research with say, Steven Hawking?

Unfortunately saying that democracy sucks is just too un-PC to ever work.

Thanks for actually taking the time completely ignore the argument that was made in the video that i posted which talks about how democracy is just a form of tyranny. The difference is that instead of one person being in control it is the tyranny of the majority. That was one of the main arguments of the lecture and the fact that we are a republic so that the majority is constrained by laws an ideal that has sadly been lost for quite some time.

That is what makes the constitution such an interesting document is that it says here is what u can do everything else you cannot.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship."

Alexander Fraser Tyler, "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"

We are in the middle of this process.

I believe that if it is an issue that people are allowed to vote on that everyone should be allowed to vote... however any issue that applies a force to another group should not be allowed.

 

[Valandil]

All tyrannies arise from democracies. So it doesn't matter if it's mob-rule or in the hands of a single person, the forms are exactly the same and they were perfectly described and defined by Plato and Aristotle 2300 years ago.