Democracy v. Republic
With regard to the threads of discussion on democracy--
The story is told that upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, Dr. Benjamin Franklin was accosted by a woman who demanded to know "What kind of a government have you given us?" Dr. Franklin is quoted as replying, "A republic, Madame, if you can keep it."
There is a significant difference between pure democracy and the representative forms of "small r" republican government most Western "democracies" attempt to practice. If I understand what I read, Plato's belief was that true democracy would inevitably degenerate into mob rule.
Our Brit cousins avoided this by turning parliament into the longest running comedy review extant. This is, at least, intellectually diverting and entertaining.
We in the US dodged the bullet by cleverly transitioning directly to an oligarchy of special interests who at regular intervals purchase the services of those who govern us--giving us the leisure to watch such edifying fare as the Kardashians and Duck Dynasty.
Fortunately, both our fine nations still have the power to address this at the polls--something we need to get about in the US before those 2700 armored vehicles the feds bought to protect us get fully armed and deployed.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
