 |
|
The Mythology of Democracy
Posted on: October 20, 2016 at 22:30:14 CT
ummmm MU
Posts:
44901
Member For:
12.82 yrs
Level:
User
M.O.B. Votes:
0
The Mythology of Democracy
Modern democracy is based on faith that the people can control what they do not understand. Election results are often only a one-day snapshot of transient mass delusions. Most voters make little or no effort to understand the policies that increasingly dominate their lives. Even policies which decimate the savings of scores of millions of Americans, such as the Federal Reserve’s zero interest policy, rarely if ever show up on the radar screen. When candidates do discuss federal policies, they are confident most listeners do not know enough to recognize malarkey when they hear it.
After election day, pundits and politicians will remind us that the winning candidate will boss us around because he or she has “the consent of the governed.” But, rather than magic wands to direct government, voting levers are now unreliable Kevlar jackets against political and bureaucratic attacks. Regardless of how people vote, the National Security Agency will still read their emails, the Internal Revenue Service will still have power to hammer who it pleases, and federal agents will continue to have a de facto license to kill.
Voting is now a way of conferring power and honors on politicians, rather than a method of reining in rulers. In the early American Republic, candidates would stress their fidelity to the Constitution. But the Constitution has long since vanished from the campaign trail, replaced by competing promises of new handouts and fiercer attacks on imagined perils.
The mythology of American democracy is being beaten like a rented mule this year. It is time to recognize how the government and much of the media have sought to make people submit via the same type of delusions that long propped up monarchs. In the 1500s, peasants were encouraged to believe that the king was chosen by God to serve His purposes on Earth. Today, Americans are encouraged to believe that a presidential candidate’s election is a sign of divine approval of his victory. In the 1600s, English yeomen were told that any limit on the king’s power was an affront to God. Today, Americans are told that any restraint on the president’s power thwarts the Will of the People. In the 1700s, the downtrodden of Europe were told that their king possessed the sum of all Earthly wisdom. Today, people are encouraged to believe that the president and his top cadre practically know all and see all and need boundless power to keep people safe. In the early 1800s, people were encouraged to believe that kings automatically cared about their subjects, simply because that was the nature of kings. Now, people are taught that the government automatically serves the people, simply because a plurality of voters assented to one of the politicians the major parties offered them.
http://jimbovard.com/blog/2016/10/04/mises-the-great-democracy-scam-of-2016/
Modern democracy is based on faith that the people can control what they do not understand. Election results are often only a one-day snapshot of transient mass delusions. Most voters make little or no effort to understand the policies that increasingly dominate their lives. Even policies which decimate the savings of scores of millions of Americans, such as the Federal Reserve’s zero interest policy, rarely if ever show up on the radar screen. When candidates do discuss federal policies, they are confident most listeners do not know enough to recognize malarkey when they hear it.
After election day, pundits and politicians will remind us that the winning candidate will boss us around because he or she has “the consent of the governed.” But, rather than magic wands to direct government, voting levers are now unreliable Kevlar jackets against political and bureaucratic attacks. Regardless of how people vote, the National Security Agency will still read their emails, the Internal Revenue Service will still have power to hammer who it pleases, and federal agents will continue to have a de facto license to kill.
Voting is now a way of conferring power and honors on politicians, rather than a method of reining in rulers. In the early American Republic, candidates would stress their fidelity to the Constitution. But the Constitution has long since vanished from the campaign trail, replaced by competing promises of new handouts and fiercer attacks on imagined perils.
The mythology of American democracy is being beaten like a rented mule this year. It is time to recognize how the government and much of the media have sought to make people submit via the same type of delusions that long propped up monarchs. In the 1500s, peasants were encouraged to believe that the king was chosen by God to serve His purposes on Earth. Today, Americans are encouraged to believe that a presidential candidate’s election is a sign of divine approval of his victory. In the 1600s, English yeomen were told that any limit on the king’s power was an affront to God. Today, Americans are told that any restraint on the president’s power thwarts the Will of the People. In the 1700s, the downtrodden of Europe were told that their king possessed the sum of all Earthly wisdom. Today, people are encouraged to believe that the president and his top cadre practically know all and see all and need boundless power to keep people safe. In the early 1800s, people were encouraged to believe that kings automatically cared about their subjects, simply because that was the nature of kings. Now, people are taught that the government automatically serves the people, simply because a plurality of voters assented to one of the politicians the major parties offered them.
http://jimbovard.com/blog/2016/10/04/mises-the-great-democracy-scam-of-2016/
Please explain why this message is being reported.
MESSAGE THREAD
The Mythology of Democracy - ummmm MU - 10/20 22:30:14
-