One of the most common category errors in political discourse is referring to the United States of America as a “democracy.” It is not a democracy, and it never has been. The Founding Fathers would be absolutely horrified to learn their descendants would routinely use the term. Democracy is mob rule. The Founders opposed it as strongly as they opposed monarchy. The government they created was designed to restrain both the despotic control of a ruling elite, and the transitory passions of the crowd.
How often have you heard it said that we must preserve the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority? This idea is profoundly hostile to “democracy,” in which the majority always gets its way, subject to whatever absolute limits might be placed on the power of the State. If you are a person of middle age, you may have noticed there is much less talk about protecting the rights of the minority these days, or of placing absolute limits on the power of the State. Dissent ceased to be the highest expression of patriotism roughly five years ago.
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