This is not a democracy
Bob Barr is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for President of the United States. He believes the proper role of government is to ensure liberty, freedom, and free commerce; and not much else. GQ interviewed Barr and asked:
Isn’t the government there to do whatever the people want? Isn’t that the whole idea of a democracy?
Barr replies, “In a pure democracy, yes. But we don’t have a pure democracy.” Later, GQ’s Wil S. Hylton states:
And this is a democracy, and the government should do what they want.
Again Barr has to clarify, “It’s not a democracy,” and briefly explains why. Later, Hylton states:
The government exists to do whatever people want it to do.
This is a very bad misconception.
Three (3) separate times Barr has to tell Hylton that our government is not a democracy. And it’s true. It is not.
It’s a Republic founded on certain principles, as defined in the Constitution which created our Federal Government. And, for our own good, these principles should not be violated. Watch this video:
We live in a Republic, not a Democracy. And thank God for that, because the tyranny of the majority is not easily controlled. Yet without Law there can be no freedom.
A user under the name of crystal041282 wrote as a comment on the GQ website:
Constitutional amendments are made by politicians. Congress. Not “the people”. Good luck finding a Congressman who votes based on what his constituents want instead on claiming he will to get elected then backing off once he’s in office. Barr addresses this directly. We’ve seen it in countless presidents. Do you *really* believe “the people” run this country?
…if we lived in a Democracy, then as the majority of people oppose our occupation in Iraq, we would have pulled out. We haven’t. We’re not living in a Democracy if we’re acting as puppets for legislators. They pander to us to get our votes – as Barr stated…
reclaimyourrepublic wrote:
How did you vote on the Farm Bill? In a democracy, you would have cast a vote about the nearly $300 billion taxpayer dollars spent. Instead, there were representatives and senators that voted to pass the bill, a president that vetoed it, and representatives and senators that overrode that veto. The bill is still in limbo due to the mistake of the missing 34 page section, but that is beside my point. I know that I didn’t cast a vote on the bill, and I am sure that you did not either.
I would also be interested in a citation in the U.S. Constitution that classifies America as a democracy. I would also like to see where it grants the “right” to vote. I think that both of these issues would signify a democracy. While we are on the subject of a democracy, the 2000 Presidential election would have been decided differently.
Think about it. A Republic, not a Democracy.
plus the Congresscritters often do not read the final versions of bill put before them for a vote. The people with the power, therefore, are the ones on committees who can slip in a sentence or two at the last second before a vote.
This is how American males lost the right to say hello to foreign women…a clause was added to the IMBRA law which was inside the VAWA law which was inside the must-pass Justice Dept Budge Reauthorization Act put for a voice vote at 5PM before Christmas vacation 2005.
Our real right to “vote” is if we have the moxy to walk into a federal courthouse and do a pro se challenge against any specific federal law. Then, if you get the right judge, you yourself can defy either a majority of Americans or that jackass in the committee who made a last second change to a bill.
The ability to do a pro se challenge is the beauty of our republic. If we could not do that, we would deserve to be conquered. And I repeat: There is nothing democratic about the ability of one citizen to use the Constitution to make a complaint about something that 200 million others might have clamored for.
We all know we are a republic if we stop to remember the “American Pledge of Allegiance”.
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which its stands, one nation under GOD, with liberty and justice for all.”
We are a representative democracy, not a “direct” democracy and it’s unfortunate that we don’t remember this from civics classes.