Re: Down with Democracy!
Jeff Bishop (jeff@bishop-nospam.net)
Sun, 21 Dec 1997 23:12:46 -0800
Daniel C. Burton wrote:
> Go up on the shock value props and on the good ideas and I imagine we'd
> get quite a bit of attention.
I hate to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but this "great libertarian flasher"
tactic is likely to backfire. I'm also curious why so many [L/l]ibertarians
assume that a republic will protect liberty any more than a direct democracy
would. Spare me all the neat quotations; history does not bear it out. [The
Weimar *Republic* being a gross example, but not the only one.]
In a democracy, we would only have to persuade 51% (actually 50.00000025% or
so) to respect each other's autonomy and we'd be finished. When will 51% of
our Congresscritters vote to end the war on drugs? Probably not until 90% of
the general population wants them to, since any Congressman who votes his
conscience will soon be an ex-Congressman. Convince a citizen that X is a bad
idea, and he'll vote against X with no fear of repercussions. Given the
unfortunate choice, I'd sooner trust 51% of my fellow citizens than 51% of the
legislators to vote libertarian issues.
> (We could organize a front organization like "Cal Anti-Democracy
> Dissidents" if necessary.)
If you want people to call you a CADD, go right ahead.