Why democracy is failing America

Natural News ^ | Tuesday, May 10, 2011 | Mike Adams

[Scythian]

Democracy is the worst form of government, Sir Winston Churchill once said... except for every other form of government. In other words, all forms of government are atrociously bad, and democracy may merely be the least bad of the bunch. I certainly wouldn't want to live under a dictatorship, socialism or communism. So I like the idea of democracy, and I wish it would work better for America. But it isn't working. That much is clear. Democracy is failing America, and we can't just blame it on the politicians and the corporations. People actually vote for their own self-destruction by electing professional liars to represent them.

That's where this article begins.

Why democracy isn't working for America

At its core, the democratic process of electing representatives is a popularity contest. The voters inevitably end up supporting whichever lawmakers offer the best handouts right now, regardless of the long-term consequences to the nation. Voting, in other words, is a contest based on short-term rewards rather than long-term vision. Not surprisingly, when the voters go to the polls, they tend to elect the person who promises them the most right now.

Now, it's crucial to recognize this simple economic fact: No government can offer something to one person without first taking it from another. So the more handouts, entitlements and benefits any government offers, the more it must confiscate from others in order to meet its "obligations" to the voters.

This creates a downward spiral of entitlements leading to inescapable debt. Because sooner or later, governments always run out of other people's money.

But that doesn't stop the voting action which still boils down to a popularity contest to decide the leader who tells the best lies. When given a choice between a realistic candidate who says America is deep in debt (Ron Paul) and a fantasy-land candidate who says there's nothing to worry about (almost everybody else), most voters will choose the fantasy candidate... especially if it means more money in their pockets.

The right course of action is too unpopular

What's desperately lacking in all this, of course, is the far more important truth that when a nation is in financial trouble (and environmental trouble, health care trouble, etc.), only tough decisions will ever turn it around. And those tough decisions are, by definition, unpopular decisions.

Huh? We have to consume less? Receive fewer benefits? Pay higher taxes? Make the wealthy corporations pay their fair share? Say it isn't so...

Not surprisingly, in a free and open democracy, tough, unpopular decisions will almost never be supported by the majority of voters. That's because most people are simply selfish. They are far more concerned about their own immediate benefits than the future they might be handing down to their children or grandchildren. So there is zero willingness to make the tough decisions necessary to save the country. The voters, in other words, tend to vote out of their own short-term interests rather than the long-term viability of the nation as a whole.

That's why democracy is failing America. And that's partly why America is headed toward a near-certain collapse in the not-too-distant future. A President who tells the truth and says we have to cut government by 80% to balance the budget is simply not electable. Too many people have their hands in the cookie jar. Too many voters depend on the government to send them checks, and far too many wealthy corporations are entirely dependent on government enforcement of monopolies and subsidies for their own survival. Big Pharma, for example, would shrink by at least 90% if not for the government's support of the industry.

So electing a President who will actually halt the financial bleeding of America will never happen.

Sure, it might happen in a nation with a highly educated population. That's why education is so important to the long-term survival of any nation. But America isn't a highly-educated nation. Probably half of America's high school graduates can't do basic math. So the concept of compounded interest on the national debt is simply beyond their understanding and doesn't seem real to them. They are short-term consumers because that's the way they've been trained. That's the way they think. That's the way they calculate. And that's the way they vote.

Think about it: Your average consumer will spend $4 on a pack of two AA batteries when they could spend $10 and get 8 AA batteries of the exact same brand and capacity. To most consumers, $4 is cheaper than $10, so they just spend the $4 and don't consider the cost per battery. People don't do the math! And when they vote, they don't think it through. They vote based on popularity, not rational thought.

As a result, America today is a cesspool of lawmakers, Presidents and bureaucrats who merely weave elaborate lies to feed the public for as long as they can get away with it. There is hardly a shred of truth left in anything coming out of Washington D.C. these days. We are so far beyond the point of actually fixing the problems and turning this country around that most of the intelligent people are now focused on getting ready to "ride out the reset."

The dictatorship we definitely don't want

At this point, the only real way to save America's future is to force a set of tough decisions upon the people by way of a strong dictatorship -- and I am absolutely opposed to such a thing because it would destroy the few remaining freedoms we still enjoy today.

You could, of course, try to educate the populace about freedom, fiscal responsibility and the value of long-term strategic thinking rather than short-term rewards, but that would require an entire cultural shift spanning at least two generations. Because let's face it, Americans have been trained in the philosophy of "instant gratification" for at least two generations. It's all about having more and having it now. You can't reverse that kind of thinking overnight. You can't reverse instant gratification thinking instantly, in other words.

The end result will be collapse

So what are we left with? There's no way out of this except collapse. Michael Ruppert gets it (www.collapsenet.com). Gerald Celente gets it (www.TrendsResearch.com) . Alex Jones gets it (www.InfoWars.com). But most people don't get it.

In fact, the mainstream short-term thinkers and voters don't get it at all. And the reason they don't get it is because they are the problem from the start! They're the ones who voted without thinking and elected professional liars rather than problem solvers. John F. Kennedy was probably the last President who attempted to actually tell the truth, and they shot him in the head for asking too many questions about the Federal Reserve (and other topics). After that moment in history, it has all been a series of escalating lies to the point where all the presidents in recent memory are now little more than staged public relations fictional characters playing a role in the hit comedy TV series called "America, The Leader of the Free World!"

It's a comedy series, however... not a reality show. And the mainstream media is playing the role of the comedy news source in the comedy TV series. Virtually nothing the media prints about health, the economy or world news has any basis in fact whatsoever. It is merely the regurgitation of crafted spin pieces and official deceptions designed to keep the voters entertained a while longer while the money commanders loot the economy before the coming collapse.

Lessons to be learned from recent history

Why does any of this matter? At one level, it doesn't. The collapse of America has been set in motion, and there's actually very little you or I can do to stop it. Emailing your congressman or signing a petition is futile. Even the act of voting is essentially an exercise in supporting a system of government that's already on life support and nearing its expiration date. It doesn't really make much difference at this point, except for local and state elections, of course.

Because the bigger picture here is that the experiment of Democracy has failed on a grand scale. It's not obvious to everyone yet (because few people are long-term thinkers), but it soon will be. Democracy doesn't work if your voters are mostly short-term thinkers who can't do math and whose selfishness outweighs any sense of leaving something of value for the next generation.

The American democracy experiment will soon crash land, and when we're sorting through the wreckage, all the shocked and bewildered people will be asking, "How could this have happened? Everything was going along just fine..." But it wasn't just fine. Most of it was all a Big Lie, and lies have a way of catching up with you.

America's democracy was a noble concept. And it could have worked if the population had been better educated and the corporations less greedy (and the lawmakers less whore-like, I suppose). But today it has failed, and now it's only a matter of watching it implode and then figuring out a better solution for creating a more sustainable nation for our collective future.

Perhaps it's time we threw away the idea of voters electing "representatives" in its totality and instead created a nation of sovereign citizens who operate from a completely different mindset. Who says we need a federal government at all? Wouldn't most of us be freer, healthier, wealthier and happier if the federal government didn't even exist? Sure, we need a national defense but even that could be coordinated by the states.

Remember, the "United States" means a group of states who are united in their intentions. It does not mean a federal tyrant that overrules the states. The "United States" of America is supposed to be a system of agreement and open trade among fifty sovereign geopolitical entities, not one oppressive system that demands compliance with its corrupt, power-hungry agenda.

These are some of the issues people will no doubt be pondering when the current experiment in democracy implodes.

Don't be surprised when that day comes, of course. It's already past the point of no return. Be ready to take part in the discussions of what I call The Next Society that will inevitably be born out of the coming collapse. And hopefully we can figure out a way to improve on the concept of "democracy" for a brighter (and freer) future.

[count-your-change]

Failure is the chief characteristic of human social creations.

[wita]

Make the wealthy corporations pay their fair share?

The writer doesn’t understand a lot of things, as evidenced.

[RoadTest]

Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, wrote the following in 1787:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’ s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, the nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith
2. From spiritual faith to great courage
3. From courage to liberty
4. From liberty to abundance
5. From abundance to complacency
6, From complacency to apathy
7. From apathy to dependence
8. From dependence back into bondage

It was God who got us out of the bondage of Europe in the seventeenth century and it is turning our back on God that is ending our Republic.

[SMARTY]

I don’t know how trade or national defense would work without a federal government.

[wita]

It was God who got us out of the bondage of Europe in the seventeenth century and it is turning our back on God that is ending our Republic.

In concept I agree completely.

[whd23]

"Iffen da Queeny treaten alla dem Gungans witda respects yusa showen Ja Ja, meetinks, yep, dat meyby okeyday ta tink." -- Jar Jar Binks

[luvbach1]

“..John F. Kennedy was probably the last President who attempted to actually tell the truth, and they shot him in the head for asking too many questions...”

Agree that that comment was totally unnecessary and, IMO, erroneous. And that's not why Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy.

[2001convSVT]

"What’s needed is a branch of government that is not beholden to an electorate."

We did until Woodrow Wilson and the 17th Amendment changed how Senators were seated. Repeal the 17th Amendment bump!

[luvbach1]

Monarchy is preferable to democracy.

That could work out. 0bummer wouldn't mind being king.

[Gargantua]

Yeah, Democracy sucks. That's why we are a Constitutional Republic instead. Imbeciles. This "author" has his head up his putrid sphincty.

;-|

[upchuck]

Three hundred plus years ago and Tyler got it exactly right. I reckon we’re on step seven, sliding towards eight.

[JadeEmperor]

"Monarchy is preferable to democracy. In a monarchy, the ruling family has an incentive to keep the economy prosperous, so they can continue to leach off its fruits."

Worked so very well in Europe, right? Failed monarchies led to the rise of Communism and Nazism in the 20th century. Not to mention both world wars.

[upchuck]

What’s needed is a branch of government that is not beholden to an electorate.

Do you mean a dictatorship? Like Chávez?

[Nip]

I did scan the article looking to see if its author was educated or not. He isn't.

Our founding fathers never established a democracy. They knew democracies failed. They didn't trust the mobs. They had read and understood the lessons of history. When they established this nation they actively excluded a significant part of the population not by race nor sex but by possession of property. They felt that if you didn't have an active stake in the nation you shouldn't have control of its future through the right to vote.

Since the 1820’s there has been a drive to change the rules established by our founding fathers. Some, the race and sex requirements, were ones that the founding fathers knew had to be changed - their writings both public and private prove this. Some reflected the changes in the world. A few were done to gain political power.

My bottom line?

The Federal Government, not the Representative Republic, is failing because it is attempting to do things that our Constitution was designed to prevent.

If the article had addressed this and used the term Representative Republic in place of Democracy it would be an excellent article. AS it is, it is nothing more than a flawed high school history paper.

[P8riot]

Okeyday

[sickoflibs]

RE :”Democracy is failing America, and we can't just blame it on the politicians and the corporations. People actually vote for their own self-destruction by electing professional liars to represent them....At its core, the democratic process of electing representatives is a popularity contest. The voters inevitably end up supporting whichever lawmakers offer the best handouts right now, regardless of the long-term consequences to the nation. Voting, in other words, is a contest based on short-term rewards rather than long-term vision. Not surprisingly, when the voters go to the polls, they tend to elect the person who promises them the most right now.....But that doesn't stop the voting action which still boils down to a popularity contest to decide the leader who tells the best lies...”

Jeeze, this sounds like my writing. There is some stuff in the article I disagree with, but the above especially mimics my observation of the 2008 election with the biggest liar Obama winning, McCain gave it a good try though as a huge phony. Even Republicans won 2010 by acting as if they were the protectors of Medicare benefits (ref Obama-care cuts) now act surprised that their proposal to get (practically) rid of it is not popular. They knew not to run on that.

[bert]

You miss the historical point. Monarchies ran out of steam in a modern world. There was change. Your horizon is too short.

In some places the change process was co opted buy socialist zealots who had an idea that failed. In Russia it apparently happened twice. In China they recognize that fact and are moving in a direction toward a form of government not yet fully evolved

The primary story of the twentieth century is the demise of monarchy and the rise of democratic government. The evolution presently continues

[bert]

You miss the historical point. Monarchies ran out of steam in a modern world. There was change. Your horizon is too short.

In some places the change process was co opted buy socialist zealots who had an idea that failed. In Russia it apparently happened twice. In China they recognize that fact and are moving in a direction toward a form of government not yet fully evolved

The primary story of the twentieth century is the demise of monarchy and the rise of democratic government. The evolution presently continues

[Gilbo_3]

This is why I no longer have the drive, I too see it's end. Oh, I'll still vote, but it's an utter waste of time. However, I am not depressed, worried, or afraid, I have a better hope. God Bless Everyone.

30 replies and the best im seeing are shortsighted nitpickings on a particular sentence, or simply the term 'democracy'...

our FRee Republic was replaced with a 'hungry, hungry hippo' of self feeding democracy, w/o a shot being fired...the basic premise being made is spot on...

my attempts at 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' dont originate, and cannot be 'granted' by men, and i'll Thank God everyday for the FReedom i enjoy, whether 'allowed' by men or not...

we're entering a late stage, of lines that are gonna be very dangerous to cross...tread lightly hippos...

nobody *knows* the timeline of the temporal, much less the eternal, but history shows that we are doomed as a matter of fact...some kind of 'reset' is certain...who is to put the pieces together is the mystery...

[RipSawyer]

“It is time to rethink the Constitution.”
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

No, there is zero chance that we would write something better. The problem is not the constitution, it is our failure to abide by it. The current system has strayed so far from the rule book that if America were a baseball team the pitcher would be sitting in the stands and the batter would be trying to hit from the dugout and the umpires would be calling home runs for successfully farting.