Re: Down with Democracy!
Jeff Bishop (Jeff@Bishop.NET)
Sun, 04 Jan 1998 13:04:21 -0800
Seth D. Schoen wrote:
> Since most people are _not libertarians_ and most people in the U.S. _support
> Democracy_ it doesn't seem likely that a lot of people are going to agree
> right off. But one of the points of the protest was presumably that many
> people haven't even thought about it; if the protest can raise the
> consciousness of a few people even while annoying a few people, it may be
> worthwhile.
Whether or not the agree is not the point. If they *do* agree, what result? More
liberty or more laws from Sacramento? The difference between a democracy and a
republic is simple: do the people vote directly or delegate this decisionmaking
power to a legislature? All the countermajoritarian arguments apply equally to
democracies and republics alike. If the people have no right to vote directly on X,
where on earth do they get the "right" to enlist a legislature to do it for them?
A republic may well be superior to a democracy for purely utilitarian reasons, but I
fail to see any basis for assuming that less democracy and more republicanism would
translate into more individual liberty. Add to that the fact that no one is
seriously considering abolishing the legislature anyway, and I have to question what
any such march could hope to accomplish.
> This protest can work if someone sees it and says "They're crazy for protesting
> Democracy" and then, a few years later, is ganged-up upon (metaphorically) by
> a majority and is moved to remember what we had to say and, perhaps, to agree
> with it a little more. We should aim to legitimize the dislike of majority
> rule, and not expect that everyone will agree immediately.
Au contraire - expect plenty of support from the ACLU, Thelton "I like affirmative
action, therefore th econstitution requires it" Henderson, Tom "I have a
constitutional right to lifetime employment" Bates, Dan "What Medical Marijuana
Law?" Lungren, and a host of other, mostly unsavory, types. The choice between a
democracy and a republic is between majority rule and special-interest rule, not
between majority rule and freedom. Let's forget "majority rule" and instead aim to
legitimize the dislike of "rule."