Democratic Tyranny

With one foot in the past
Now just how long will it last
No, no, no, have you no ambition?
--Tears for Fears

Many people like to say that democracy is a necessary component of a free society. I'm not sure where the broad adherence to such a wrongful association originated.

Surely it could not have come from study of America's founding documents. While the Declaration and Constitution are chock full of references to liberty, there is not one mention of the word 'democracy.'

However, enough people espouse the freedom-democracy link to make me think it was brainwashed into their heads as part of schooling. Of course, mainstream media play a role as well.

Liberty is the freedom to pursue one's destiny without forceful interference from others. Democracy is a group decision-making rule whereby the alternative supported by the largest number of people is pursued.

The reasoning mind quickly concludes that democracy impairs, rather than supports, liberty. Unless the vote is unanimous, any decision made by democratic process discriminates against those in the minority as they are forced to succumb to the desires of those in the majority group.

Democracy's common label as the 'majority rule' could not be more accurate. The majority rules the minority.

The framers understood that tyranny by the majority was just as detrimental to liberty as tyranny by some small group. Which is why they designed a republic grounded in rule of law rather than discretionary rule by any person or group.

Democracy and freedom have little in common.