Local, State, federal, world… today, and for a century-plus, we have been told that “democracy” is a good thing – and the only legitimate form of government. We are being treated (and threatened) with that today, both with the upcoming 2022 elections in the States and the continuing vendetta against The Donald. And we even see it in the UK with the changes in government. And many other places: even while populist protests (energy and inflation, for the most part) rock the various democracies yet again, we are told this is the best government we can have: whether it is Czechia, Italy, Argentina, Sri Lanka, or even the Netherlands. The politicians keep saying this even while they seemingly ignore the will of the people.

They are, of course, lying. I know, politicans are ALWAYS lying: it is their specialty, their career, their lives and livelyhood. But it is more than that.

Let us go beyond the “two wolves and a sheep” model to look at why “rule by the people” is evil. For one, it promotes and supports demagogues. What’s that? Webster’s says “a person who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people in order to arouse discontent and advance his or her own political purposes.”

I like HL Mencken’s definition:

Democracy breeds and instigates – and often needs – demagogues.

I submit as a case study the recent fate (so far) for the former chair of the Los Angeles City Council. While she shall remain nameless, the LA Times makes a photogenic martyr of her in the story of her resigning from the Council. Why did she resign? Why did she have to resign?

First and foremost, because she is stupid. It is not because she is a racist power-junkie busy leading “her people” into the promised land of California del Norte-Sud. Although she is: most of the politcally-connected and vote-mongering Hispanic people of her city seem to have no problem with that – and indeed may be such a one themselves. It is a major theme in Hispanic politics: the organization “National Organization of La Raza” (“the Race”) is seen as a racist counter to the KKK and the NAACP, according to many people. The burden of the racism exhibited by some (not ALL) people of Mexican, Central American, and South American origins seemed to be carried by black people. As was the case with this former chair.

She tried first to just give up her privileged position as Council Chair and retain her seat – but she has given in and resigned entirely. It is clear that her power and influence are only attenuated, not gone.

But there are other evils: the idea that everything can can (and indeed must) be decided by majority vote: the tyranny of the majority. The idea that the only limits on government powers are based on the outcome of voting, decided from year to year – if not month to month – by the “will of the people.” With the other side of the coin being that the rights of the minorities are despised, circumscribed, and all too often taken away by the rulers sustained by the majority vote.

Add to that that decisions in a democracy are usually – if not always – decided NOT by a true majority but by a plurality. Not everyone votes – nor do everyone’s votes really count. Remember Stalin’s dictum: the power lies with those who count the votes.

As proven time and time again, democracy frequently leads to a situation where the voters – and those elected to office by them, and those who are appointed by them – believe that even natural law can be overridden by a popular vote. A mindset which leads to disaster, usually sooner than later.

Which leads us to conclude that democracy is, ultimately, an enemy of liberty. It may work for a while, but long-term, it fails and something else replaces it: usually some form of tyranny by an elite of some sort. Therefore, the nature of democracy supports the ideas of anarchists: those who believe in free markets and reject mandatory human government.