"How Democracy Ends"

The Intercept recently posted a brilliant piece by Murtaza Hussain titled, "Democracy Dies in the Blinding Light of Day".  It's a commentary and review of Professor David Runciman's new book, How Democracy Ends.

Due to time constraints, I can give only a brief, inadequate summary of the hypothesis, as follows.  Instead of Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm, Runciman makes a very good argument for the ending of democracy via Huxley's Brave New World, in which Technology smothers democracy in a manner barely noticeable.  There's plenty of past and present evidence supporting that premise.  See Hussain's article.

My only criticism (though not much of one) of Mr. Hussain's piece is this---
He cites John Adams, one of our Founders and the second President of the USA, as not favoring democracy.  Adams:  "There never was a democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.".  That is what Adams said, but there's more to the story.  The fact is, the majority of our Founders expressed a palpable disdain for democracy.  They were against that form of government for our new country.  See the second paragraph here---
http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/2016/11/latest-count-clinton-has-395000-more.html
In other words, it wasn't only Adams who didn't want democracy for the USA.

This country never has been a democracy.  Elections don't make it so.  That people believe the exact opposite is a testament to the power of Edward Bernays style Propaganda.  This Land's government is a Plutocracy, and it always has been.  Without question, History supports that contention.  It took me decades to come to that conclusion.  C'est la vie.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Latest Count: Clinton Has 395,000 More Votes Than Trump

Her lead is up from 225,000... and all the votes still have not yet been counted.  Welcome to American "democracy".  We can stick our heads in the sand and ignore this (again), or we can work to change our electoral system.  It would be helpful if we all stopped drinking the Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid.

Long ago, James Madison said that the opulence of the wealthy must be protected from the majority.  He also stated that democracy is the most vile form of government.  John Jay, also a signer of the Constitution and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stated that those who own the country (property owners) should rule it.  Benjamin Franklin defined democracy as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch.  Other Founders referred to the tyranny of the majority.  Benjamin Rush, one of our Founders, said that a simple democracy is the devil's own government.  John Adams, the second U.S. President, claimed democracy soon degenerates into an anarchy.  Gouverneur Morris, the writer of the Final Draft of the Constitution, stated that the tumults of democracy terminate in despotism.  Fisher Ames, the framer of the 1st Amendement to the Constitution, claimed that democracy is the most violent of despotisms.  Even the respected Thomas Jefferson said that democracy is mob rule.  Long story short--- our Founders were against having democracy as our form of gov't.  They succeeded in that quest.

Despite the above, our current/recent leaders at the highest levels keep referring to "our democracy".  They rarely ever refer to our form of government by its proper name, our Republic.  The two types of gov't are not the same.  We don't have a democracy in the USA.  We've never had one.  Most other developed countries do have a democracy...and they haven't devolved into anarchy, or tyranny, or mob rule.  What they have done is a better job of protecting the majority from the Super-Rich... a better job of it than our gov't has done.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well