Benjamin Disraeli On Democracy

Quoted in "The End Of The Beginning Of History" ^ | March 31, 1850 | Benjamin Disraeli

[danielmryan]

"If you establish a democracy, you must in due time reap the fruits of democracy. You will in due season have great impatience of the public burdens, combined in due season with great increase of public expenditure. You will in due season have wars entered into from passion and not from reason; and you will in due season submit to peace ignominiously sought and ignominiously obtained, which will diminish your authority and perhaps endanger your independence."

[danielmryan]

It's originally from a speech made in the U.K. House of Commons on that day. I posted it because there's a lot of wisdom contained in that single paragraph.

While I'm at it, here's another one in the same web page from Aristotle: "Aristotle in his Rhetoric (c. 322 B.C.) hit democracy as 'when put to the strain, grows weak, and is supplanted by oligarchy.'" Aristotle would be unsurprised at what's happening to America nowadays.

[Bhoy]

At Mt Rushmore from one of the viewing areas is a set of quotes from each president.

For G Washington: “... this is an experiment.”

So does this mean that every Republic — every attempt to bring citizens into political decisions by ballot will degenerate into democracy and from that into centralized tyranny?

The Founders tried to mitigate that by the Electoral College and limited participation (landholders) but that did not stand the centralizing forces.

Bruno Leoni in Freedom and the Law suggests that a completely independent judiciary (English Common Law, Roman Law, Irish Law) could control that force.

[Windflier]

And the British ignored the warnings of this brilliant statesman, as Americans have ignored the Framers. Both of our once glorious nations have suffered for our transgressions against the wisdom of our elders.

I really wish that the schools would teach the basic definitions of the words Republican and Democrat, and the underlying basic political philosophies of each.

If this were done, most people would elect to support the Republican way, as that is the political philosophy prescribed by our Constitution.

America is a Republic - not a Democracy.

[yarddog]

I always thought Disraeli was a better prime minister than Gladstone. He was also more like our present conservatives.

[C19fan]

Gladstone had a much more laissez faire economic policy than Disraeli. The origins of the regulatory state begin with Disraeli.

[danielmryan]

So does this mean that every Republic — every attempt to bring citizens into political decisions by ballot will degenerate into democracy and from that into centralized tyranny?

Maybe so. America's had quite a good run compared to the typical republic.

One point of interest: Rome had a more than four hundrd year run. In Roman law, property rights were all-but absolute. One of the things that did in Rome was too many freeholders falling into debt traps and losing their land. They eventually formed the core of the "deserving poor" that got the brad and circuses.