A fight for ‘right’ form of government by David L Lewis
Happy 236th Constitution Anniversary Day!
On September 18, 1787, the last day of Constitutional Convention, a lady asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor Franklin, what have we got. a Republic or a Monarchy?” Obviously the lady didn’t check her e-mail. The long hair, white guys who wrote our Constitution had more than two options. There were at least four kinds of government to chose from. And, how hard it would be to get a Stop sign depended on what they chose.
#1 Democracy comes to us from the early Greeks (doesn’t everything?). Following their model, if I were to want a Stop sign installed at the end of our street I would take my request to a meeting of all free, male citizens of the town. We’d all vote on it, and if a majority approved I’d get my Stop sign, paid for from the public treasury. Unless, of course, the thing dies in Committee.
However, all Democracies fail, usually because the majority want the money spent on something other than Stop signs. Alexander Tyler (1747-1813) put it this way:
“A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a Democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a Dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years…”
Again following the Greek model, in time one-man rule arises to save the minority from the plague of democratic placement of Stop signs. Someone who “alone can fix it”. In Greece the man was Alexander the Great.
#2 Republic comes from the early Roman Republic (which also gave us The Gladiator). For some time ancient Rome was ruled by a Senate made up of ‘entitled’ long hair, rich white guys who made the rules as they went along, and used money to secure political power. Republics fail, failing mostly because nobody who wanted Stop signs got to vote for those Senators, or the thing dies in Committee. When Republics fail one-man rule arises to save the minority from the lack of Stop signs. Someone who “alone can fix it”. In Rome it was Julius Caesar, and a long list of dictators who followed until the whole Roman Republic idea collapsed.
#3 Democratic-Republic as I was taught to understand it in grade school (think early 1950s), this form of government was mostly what writers of America’s Constitution compromised on. The people could elect representatives who would decide where and when to spend money on Stop signs. Unless, of course, the thing dies in Committee. Whether this will work in long run is yet to be determined and seems to depend on how many Stop signs we really need and which Party is pro-Stop sign. Whether a Democratic-Republic can survive more than 236 years is un-tested. But, there are more than one potential leaders awaiting to be they who “alone can fix it”.
#4 Monarchy (aka Dictatorship) usually arise throughout history because a minority determine it will take someone who “alone can fix it”. Sometimes they are elected by a Democracy, sometimes appointed by a Republic, sometimes they just take power by force. In Italy it was Mussolini, in Germany it was Hitler, in Cuba it was Castro. When we get us a dictator who “alone can fix it”, if I pledge fidelity to him I might just get that Stop sign (dictators rarely wait on Committees).
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History leaves hints to warn of coming events, and those today paying attention see hints of pending failure of this Democratic-Republic form of government. If the idea of a Democratic-Republic fails, and all history hints it will, would over time a one-man ruler arise to save the minority from the plague of Stop signs? Someone who “alone can fix it”? Would some future generation, ignorant of history, not recognize that history, as Mark Twain said, rhymes?
Of all the words to dread and to fear
most naive are these, “it can’t happen here”
This is not intended to be a well-documented, researched white-paper. Based entirely on memory of things taught me, this is merely one observer’s attempt to once again ‘write to find out what I think’ about Stop signs. If any reader be Liberal, Libertarian, or Lawyer, please feel free to present a better way to get me a Stop sign.
Just fighting for some future generation needing a Stop sign,
TheOldtimeCitizen
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