Well, Mr B and I returned from our stint as delegates at the Michigan Republican Convention. It was an interesting time, frought with amusement.
It also resurrected one of my 314 (or so) pet peeves and personal bugaboos. That is the apparent ignorance on the part of those in government as to what system of government operates in this country. I couldn't blame you if you thought you lived in a democracy. All our state officials think so too. As a matter of fact, our president seems under that impression as well. Sadly, all of them are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Because the United States of America is not a democracy.
That's right, I said it. We don't live in a democracy. We live in a representative republic. There's a difference. Now, those representatives are voted into office in a democratic fashion. This is admirable. But it does not a true democracy make. It merely means that democratic principles are upheld within the context of a representative republic.
So the next time you hear some politician talking about this great democracy that we live in, scratch your head a bit and wonder : does this person live in a different country (like California?) and does he or she think we live there too? or is he or she just plain ignorant? Maybe they weren't paying attention in grade school (which is when I learned this), or worse, maybe it's just not taught anymore. Either way is a sad state of affairs.
Pfui.
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4 comments:
Janna, did you let Steve write this post? It sounds very much like him.
If so, I fully expect a post on home-cooking on "In God We Trust". It would only be fair.
I didn't write this post, in fact she ranted about this subject at the GOP convention today.
It's interesting you mentioned this. Back in my Poly Sci class, my prof. spent the first month looking at five or so philosophers the founding founders looked to when writing the constitution. Turns out, each of the philosophers viewed democracy as heavily flawed and ultimately doomed system, some even calling it outright evil. Very interesting stuff.
The best definition of democracy I've ever heard is "two wolves and a chicken deciding what's for dinner". Unfortunately, it's the prevailing system of thought these days - and not just in politics.
I read an interesting article by Gary DeMar on the subject today. It's a bad enough system here, but it's downright idiotic to try to set it up in Muslim countries. You'd think that'd be obvious.
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