Yes, the Elites do think that way and yes democracy does fail but not necessarily because the ‘masses’ are uninformed, but because from time to time the ‘masses’ are whipped into a mob and their actions are used by those that seek to impose tyranny as a consequence.
Democracy is often jokingly referred to as a poitical process where two foxes and a chicken decide on what is for dinner. It is a system that our Founders knew was flawed and would never stand up to tyranny.
Our founders were schooled in philosophy, antiquities such as Plato, and of course the Bible. Our Founders deliberated many many years on the best new form of government to preserve our freedoms and they produced what many consider to be a devinely inspired ‘Constitution’ which was considered by the civilized world at the time to be a “grand experiment”, the “American Idea”. The American form of government was considered an “idea”, that other nations observed and some thought would fail.
The United States was not founded as a democracy. Kids today are taught in error that the USA is a democracy. It is a republic, and can be said to be a democratic republic insofar that the House votes democratically but is checked by the republican form known as the Senate (which was weakened by the 17th Amendment but I digress), and the Senate is in turn checked by the Executive Branch. Each form is checked by the Constitution upon review by the Supreme Court and lastly the States and the People can override all other forms.
In short our system of government makes it maddingly tough for a tyrant to seize control of all government. And we often see why when we read Free Republic here, from discussions of 10th Amendment sovereignty, to the constitutionality of federally imposed healthcare.
I am certain that the would-be tyrants that occupy the Obama administration are aware of just how difficult it is to change America from a democratic republic to a socialist ‘democracy’. They can’t move too fast and they can’t move too slow. As the late leftist socialist Ted Kennedy said to wit “We will take anything we can get whenever we can get it”. So the leftist elite and the rightist elite (they are all totalitarians forming two political mafia families) will move slowly and will sprint when the opportunity presents itself. They will seek crisis and catastrophe from which to impose further laws and programs to control people, thereby inserting government between people and their freedom.
And to the elite, the notion of freedom for non-elites is frightening, because it means they are subject to those that would rise up from among the ‘masses’ and challenge their power. Therefore, the elites seek to control the media and its influence on the people’s thinking, to control the incomes of people, to control the armaments of people, to control the candidates that feign to be representatives of the people, and now they seek to control the ‘health’ of people. And we know that ‘health’ can mean anything that can be construed as having an effect on the socialist ideal of egalitarianism for masses, but not for themselves.
Socialists can easily control a democracy by controlling the lists of those they approve for election. It matters not if a citizen votes for person A or person B as long as the Elite have pre-approved person A and B. If an unapproved person C gets on the ballot in what is considered to be a strategic office, then the Elite’s army of government and media will descend on person C (witness Palin) until the socialist democracy has removed the unapproved intruder. Palin was approved as VP of a forordained losing ticket. However, her popularity was surprising and caused the machinery of the Elite to react against her. Time will tell if the Elite can overcome the Palin factor in the years ahead.
It is my hope that the People will continue to be awake and act in such a manner as to reform the government and return it to a form more true of its founding. To this end, the single most important issue that transcends all others is the issue of taxation which in 97 years has become a cancerous monstrosity.
Ans here is the cure:
Teach your students about the history of taxation in America and why the above system would restore the Republic and they need not worry about tyranny as much.
Thank you for your points...I always teach them that we are a Republic. I inform them of the constraints against mob rule that are found in our rule of law...and like I said before, I encourage them to not become “the masses”...to be informed and to not accept authority just because they are told to...I always encourage them to carry the Constitution with them. Maybe I am a dying breed, a social studies teacher who loves this nation so passionately that what is happening is keeping me up at night.
In their hearts, the elites are oligarchs. They wish to ensure that their positions are secure from smart, energetic climbers. Many are the children of inherited wealth, who don't really have the intelligence that enabled their fathers to make it.