I read a news story down here in Florida today about a local teacher who insists that students should not be taught that America is a democracy, emphasizing that America is a republic. The school board agreed to use the term "representative democracy," but the teacher remains unperturbed and continues arguing that the word "republic" is the most accurate.
The news story dripped with disdain for this woman and portrayed her as obsessed with mere semantics. But America needs a lot more people like her, for the distinction between a republic and a democracy (representative or otherwise) is crucial to America's identity and survival.
The founders scorned democracy as the untrammeled will of the mob, whose passions always lead it to abuse power and destroy prosperity. A "representative democracy" suffers from this same defect; the will of the mob is simply funneled through a few ciphers and remains free to rape, pillage, and plunder however the mob demands.
Contrast this to a republic, where the rule of law places limits on what the mob may accomplish no matter how fervent or unanimous the desire. A representative democracy knows no limits to governmental power, but a republic is founded precisely on the notion that there are things the government cannot ever do. The extinction of that notion is what has destroyed the republican nature of America and guarantees rough seas ahead, for the rule of law has yielded to the rule of men. Thank goodness there's a woman with enough sense and courage to challenge it.
No comments:
Post a Comment