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.

[Scythian]

As you know I have dropped out of posting on the FR but felt this article so "point on" that I had to post. 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.

[rockinqsranch]

bflr

[Caipirabob]

Why democracy is failing America

Because we're actually a Free Republic?

[Scythian]

Because we're actually a Free Republic?

LOL, good luck my friend, try reading the article ...

[Covenantor]

Blackberry flag for full read later.

As my tag line indicates in principle I’m in agreement with you.

[Graybeard58]

This is why I no longer have the drive,

I get that way from time to time. I know it's a cliche but try to shake it off and come back in a fighting mood against all things liberal. Liberalism is killing our country and the only solution is conservatism.

[Nicojones]

Democracy requires an educated electorate to survive. It also requires that voting be limited to those that pay for the services and benefits. We signed our nation's death notice when: 1) we allowed liberals to take over the schools and replace real knowledge with PC dogma; and 2) we allowed non landowners (landowners were the only taxpayers at the time) to vote. Obama's election was the symptom of this illness. With an uneducated (liberally biased) electorate and almost 50% of the voters not paying taxes, our situation does not look good.

[Clinging Bitterly]

Does the writer not understand the U.S. is not a democracy? Indeed, a big part of the problem is we have instituted too much of it - i.e. direct election of Senators.

[LibLieSlayer]

We are not a democracy... we are a Republic... but the dims through activist judges and incrementalism have slowly directed us into a democracy. If they ever do away with the Electoral College... you will see the short life of democracy. democracy in pure form will not allow even a hobby club to survive for very long.

LLS

[mmercier]

I pledge my allegiance to the Republic.

All democracies end in anarchy.

[Wildbill22]

Democracies always fail. That is why our founders designed a Republic. The Democrats are trying to dismantle that Republic.

[LibLieSlayer]

I’ll stand with you and fight for America... I ain’t going anywhere and I dang sure will not quit as long as I am breathing. I think the Founder’s vision is worth just as much as they thought it was.

LLS

[chooseascreennamepat]

We have too much democracy. We willingly and with a pious smile on our faces, allow those who would doom us to take control without a fight.

We have so much democracy that we embrace illegal aliens and nearly force them to reap the largess of our once great nation.

We have so much democracy that we knowingly allow those who contribute the least to the society to vote on the future.

We have too much democracy. It is time to rethink the Constitution.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

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

[Repeal The 17th]

Thanks for posting, I think the author is spot on; but probably would have been better not to include this bit of off-putting hyperbole:
“..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...”

[P8riot]

“So this is how liberty dies...With thunderous applause.”, Padmé Amidala

[Ozone34]

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. In a democracy, every four years you have a new bunch of criminals who have every incentive to steal everything they possibly can.

"Democracy: The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order" by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

[SECURE AMERICA]

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
1. Ron Paul is not the only candidate or politician that states we are in deep debt.
2. Making one correct statement does not make Ron Paul a “realistic” candidate, which he is not..........

[SMARTY]

“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.”

Americans don’t know about history or that their choices really do have consequences.

“...the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one’s government is not necessarily to secure freedom.” Friedrich August von Hayek

[sueuprising]

You asked why we should have a federal government at all. Well, the founders contemplated that and the Articles of Confederation reflected it but it was proved not to work. Without a centralized government it would get too chaotic. I agree that a republic depends on an educated voter but the issues contemplated are so complex and confusing at times that it is not always that easy to blame election results on people that cannot do Math. You are right to say that an election is a popularity contest, but it has always been so. When Adams was pitted against Jefferson, guess who lost? Yet Adams was a far more reasonable and conservative candidate. Anyhow, the face of America is changing and that has a lot to do with the results of an election. I am more concerned that we are losing our heritage . It was that heritage that kept the voter on his toes.