A Republic or a Democracy?
In order to understand what really is we must understand what really was. If we rewrite history to coincide with our current political leanings, we will never see what is happening in front of our very eyes. For me, the best place to start today's discussion is with a close look at three basic types of governance, two of which are often seen as synonymous even when they are not.
- Permissive Parenting - This is essentially no parenting. The parents are either emotionally MIA and the children do whatever they want or the parent gives in to the child and allows whatever behavior the child chooses. We've all known homes where a three-year-old tyrant is the head of the house.
- Authoritarian Parenting - This is over-controlling parenting. The rules are so many and so strict that there is no leeway whatsoever. The child has no rights and no voice.
- Authoritative Parenting - This third choice has been found in multiple studies of parenting styles to be the most effective in terms of rearing happy, well-adjusted children who are ready to step into adulthood when the time comes. The parent has the maturity and experience to allow each child freedom within order. This allows the child to receive choices and freedoms according to maturity and ability of the child. The parent who won't allow a child of 3 to play with matches, may send that same child at 16 outside to light the BBQ. It is not arbitrary. It operates on condition of love and encouragement and uses both natural and logical consequences to teach. The goal is to discipline in such a way that the child matures into self-discipline while under the protection of the parent.
At the time of the American Revolution, the predominant type of governance throughout Western Europe were the monarchies, which can be compared to authoritarian parenting. All rights belonged to the monarch and s/he doled them out as seen fit. Since Magna Carta, England had a Parliament, but representation to that Parliament was still pretty much controlled by the aristocracy, especially in the House of Lords. Colonies of the Crown had no rights to representation in this Parliament. It was this condition the inspired the First Continental Congress in the United Colonies of America to label King George III a "tyrant." (Declaration of Independence; Thomas Jefferson; July 4, 1776)
Examples of authoritatrian governments in the 20th century include dictatorships and one party ideologies such as Nazism and Communism. In the cases of such ideologies, all rights, at least in theory, belong to the people collectively and are doled out by the "state" as it sees fit. In reality, the power of the state is invested in one man, be he a Hitler, a Stalin, a Mao, a Pol Pot or any other such dictator or despot. There are, according to sources, forty-nine such dictatorships in the world today from Cuba to the Republic of Congo (which is not a true republic, but that's another discussion for another day.)
The answer is, therefore, not to be found in a monarchy or a dictatorship. Let's, then, look at pure democracy. Pure democracy exists when every person does as he wishes and the majority rules. One man; one vote and the majority rules. It is, in the words of the 19th Century American satirist, Ambrose Bierce, "four wolves and a lamb voting to see what to eat for lunch." Pure democracy is like permissive parenting, doomed to produce a generation of entitled tantruming babies who have not the maturity to handle freedom. Because we have an upcoming generation in this country that is behaving in this manner, I can only conclude that they have been taught that the United States is a democracy. It is not. Pure democracy can deteriorate into pure anarchy in less than a generation. I believe this is what our enemies want so that we become ripe for the plucking. It saddens me that so many American's have no sense of the history of freedom to recognize what is happening and, thus, choosing to be active participants in the birth of anarchy.
The United States of America is not a pure democracy; it is a true Republic. Our very pledge of allegiance states that we pledge to the flag and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands. Alexander Hamilton - patriot, attorney, Founding Father, Secretary of the Treasury; Secretary of State - said this of the United States : "We are a Republic. Real Liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy." This is not just semantics. It is rooted in law. The United States Constitution states in Article 4 Section 4:
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence
Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying, "We gave you the Republic to save you from Democracy." I know that he did say, "We gave you the Republic if you can keep it."
In this blog I want to deal with the issues that are threatening our ability to keep it.
Sources Consulted
