Democracy

This may come as a surprise, but since the Constitution uses the words, ”republican form of government” (see Constitution), there is a question as to whether the U.S. is a democracy or a republic. A democracy is government by the people. A republic is government by a constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights is there mention of a democracy. Whenever a leader says that we live in a democracy, they may or may not be correct. Because neither the Constitution nor any of its Amendments say that we are a democracy, then technically we are not. Technically, we are not a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” as so nobly proclaimed by Lincoln (see Gettysburg Address). 

I use the word “technically” because of two reasons:

1. 1.    The Constitution specifies how the people elect members of the House of Representatives (see Constitution).
2. 2.    The 9th Amendment in the Bill of Rights states, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” In other words, rights retained by the people, are allowed under the Constitution. Technically, the people do not elect the President or Senators (see Constitution). Yet, it is my experience that the people do, and I wish to retain that right.

So, the United States is a republic in which our leaders are elected by the people. This is very close to a democracy. But, we are a “democracy” only if we, the people, retain that right. The Constitution only guarantees that the people elect the members to the House of Representatives. If we want to continue to elect the president and senators, then we need to retain that right, by voting. If we stop voting, then the president can be elected by electors, and senators can be elected by the state legislature, as described in the Constitution. If that happens, we will only choose/influence one half of the three branches of government. Currently we choose/influence two branches, and I already feel relatively powerless. Because money plays such a large factor in elections, corporate power is increasing while individual power is decreasing to nearly zero.

This means that everyone needs to vote, even if you don’t like any of the candidates. When we vote, we are collectively saying that we retain the right to live in a “democracy.” When we vote, we are saying that we want to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” and that we want a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

I don’t know if you have noticed, but some of our leaders (see Neo-cons) prefer to do what they want, and are not interested in public or world opinion. These leaders seem to confuse capitalism with democracy because they are not interested in government by the people (after all, George W lost the popular vote). These leaders go by the philosophy that what is good for business is good for America. That sounds nice because businesses hire workers. They don’t mention that low labor costs is good for business, so businesses are moving production out of the U.S., which is NOT good for America. They advocate “Free Market Economics” which is like saying that they support greater corporate capitalism over the interest of the people (see Propaganda). These leaders talk about how products are so much less expensive, but fail to mention that U.S. jobs are decreasing in number and in wages. It almost seems that the more you believe in capitalism, the less you like democracy. 

Abraham Lincoln had a wonderful description of democracy: “a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” and “government of the people, by the people, for the people” (see Gettysburg Address).

The Neo-con version of that might be: “a new nation, conceived in Economics, and dedicated to the proposition that what is good for business is good for America,” and “government of the corporate, by the corporate, for the corporate.” Also, be aware that the Neo-con’s goal is to make all other political parties too weak to challenge them, effectively rendering the U.S. to a one-party nation, with big business at the helm.

Neo-cons say that they want to share “democracy” with the world, but what they really mean is a democracy using “manufactured consent” (see Propaganda). Neo-cons loath a democracy as conceived by our Constitution, in which real power resides with the people. Neo-con democracy is the freedom to persuade countries into doing what we want them to do. Neo-cons simply want to make as much money as they can, selling military weapons, financing loans, taking natural resources, exploiting cheap labor, and leveraging every country we democratize/colonize to put pressure on other nations that might disagree with us (see Colonialism). That is “free market” economics as practiced by the strongest military and financial power the world has ever known, which Neo-cons like to call “democracy.”

So, it comes down to this. If you want to live in a republic/oligarchy/autocracy, and let corporations run the U.S., then don’t worry about voting. But, if you want to continue living in a “democracy” as conceived by our Constitution, then you must vote, and vote intelligently.