A lesson in government and American government written by me. This isn't something you'd be taught in the failing public education system. You may be surprised about the confusion that has been spread by false notions of "democracy" and how America was founded.
Let's start by defining five basic forms of government: Monarchy (rule by one), Oligarchy (rule by a small elite group), Democracy (rule by majority), Republic (rule by law), and Anarchy (no government). We can make this list even shorter.
Monarchy can be removed from the list because there is never only one person. Dictators have their bureaucrats, monarchs have their nobles, etc. A dictator is simply the face of a powerful few. Therefore these forms of government are actually Oligarchies, which is and has always been the most common form of government (Nazi Germany, Red China, the Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, etc.).
Let's look at the other side: Anarchy. Since people have found that governments have caused history's worst crimes they advocate no government. When people are unhappy with their current form of government, they may riot against it and overthrow it. But what happens next is chaos, restricted movement, violence, etc. The people then turn to the very thing they tried to abolish in order to stop the chaos: more government. Therefore, anarchy is temporary and allows a powerful few (Oligarchy) to come to power.
Democracy is rule by the majority. This may sound ideal, but what happens if the majority decides to take away your money, your property, your business, or even your children? Democracy results in tyranny of the majority. There is no restraint. We will come back to this form of government later.
A true Republic is where the government is limited by the law, so the people are left alone. This is the form of government that was set up by America's founding fathers. After the Constitutional Convention, a women asked Benjamin Franklin, "sir, what have you given us?" He replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." In a republic life, liberty, and property is protected by the law. A powerful group or a majority of people cannot repudiate these rights. The limitations on the Unites States federal government is The Constitution. The Bill of Rights clearly describes the things that the federal government "shall not" do. The 10th Amendment ends the Bill of Rights by saying if it's not mentioned in the Constitution, the government can't do it either.
Imagine if you were accused of murder. In a democracy the people would vote and decide if you should be punished. In a republic you have the right to a fair trial. Even the jury doesn't make decisions based on the majority. The rule of law must be followed. You may have considered America to be a democracy before. This is because the word is used, wrongly perhaps, as electing politicians.
A government becomes more like a Democracy when people realize they can use politicians to take something from one person and give it to someone else. As I'm sure you can guess, politicians and people with special interests become power hungry. Government becomes corrupt and society starts to crumble. People forget that government must be limited to protect liberty. Government then becomes bigger and bigger. Therefore, Democracy can also be removed from the list because it is a gradual transition from a Republic to an Oligarchy.
We are left with two basic forms of government: Oligarchy and Republic. If you truly care about protecting the principle of liberty that America was founded on, I suggest you learn more about this. If we look at America (and other countries) today, we can sadly see that it's on that gradual transition to Oligarchy and total government.
Let's start by defining five basic forms of government: Monarchy (rule by one), Oligarchy (rule by a small elite group), Democracy (rule by majority), Republic (rule by law), and Anarchy (no government). We can make this list even shorter.
Monarchy can be removed from the list because there is never only one person. Dictators have their bureaucrats, monarchs have their nobles, etc. A dictator is simply the face of a powerful few. Therefore these forms of government are actually Oligarchies, which is and has always been the most common form of government (Nazi Germany, Red China, the Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, etc.).
Let's look at the other side: Anarchy. Since people have found that governments have caused history's worst crimes they advocate no government. When people are unhappy with their current form of government, they may riot against it and overthrow it. But what happens next is chaos, restricted movement, violence, etc. The people then turn to the very thing they tried to abolish in order to stop the chaos: more government. Therefore, anarchy is temporary and allows a powerful few (Oligarchy) to come to power.
Democracy is rule by the majority. This may sound ideal, but what happens if the majority decides to take away your money, your property, your business, or even your children? Democracy results in tyranny of the majority. There is no restraint. We will come back to this form of government later.
A true Republic is where the government is limited by the law, so the people are left alone. This is the form of government that was set up by America's founding fathers. After the Constitutional Convention, a women asked Benjamin Franklin, "sir, what have you given us?" He replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." In a republic life, liberty, and property is protected by the law. A powerful group or a majority of people cannot repudiate these rights. The limitations on the Unites States federal government is The Constitution. The Bill of Rights clearly describes the things that the federal government "shall not" do. The 10th Amendment ends the Bill of Rights by saying if it's not mentioned in the Constitution, the government can't do it either.
Imagine if you were accused of murder. In a democracy the people would vote and decide if you should be punished. In a republic you have the right to a fair trial. Even the jury doesn't make decisions based on the majority. The rule of law must be followed. You may have considered America to be a democracy before. This is because the word is used, wrongly perhaps, as electing politicians.
A government becomes more like a Democracy when people realize they can use politicians to take something from one person and give it to someone else. As I'm sure you can guess, politicians and people with special interests become power hungry. Government becomes corrupt and society starts to crumble. People forget that government must be limited to protect liberty. Government then becomes bigger and bigger. Therefore, Democracy can also be removed from the list because it is a gradual transition from a Republic to an Oligarchy.
We are left with two basic forms of government: Oligarchy and Republic. If you truly care about protecting the principle of liberty that America was founded on, I suggest you learn more about this. If we look at America (and other countries) today, we can sadly see that it's on that gradual transition to Oligarchy and total government.
