ihopehefails
VIP Member
- Oct 3, 2009
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- #1
Democracy was the biggest threat to the civil rights movement in this country. Wherever blacks protested to get things that they wanted the 'will of the people' stopped them. That happen in the south as well as the north and if left to its own devices a pure democracy would have allowed the status quo of racism to continue. The thing that brought about change was not the democratic will of the mob but republican (constitutional) form of government that protected people's rights. No matter what the white majority said in those states the constitution kept that racist will from oppressing the rights of individual citizens. It was the constitution acting against the will of the people that protected the rights of the people.
I know that most people think that democracy is some magic buzzword that is suppose to garantee someone's rights but that is not the case. While democracy does stop some abuses of tyrants it does not stop abuses of the majority. A republican form of government restricts the democratic will of the people and protects the rights of every individual because of the restrictions placed on the government.
Think of the first amendment that states that a democratic body can pass no law restricting someone's right of free speech. This is a limitation on politicians who could scheme to take away the rights of the people but also a limitation on the people to take away the rights of their neighbor. That amendment prevents a law that might have the support of 99.999999% of the citizens but if it destroys the right of one citizen to speak freely then that law is null and void which protects the right of each citizen of this country.
In short, democracy can be as much a threat to your natural born rights as any monarchy because what difference does it make of whether a king uses his legal powers to inhibit those rights or your neighbor uses his legal powers through the voting process to do the same? In both cases the method did not matter because the end result was the same.
I know that most people think that democracy is some magic buzzword that is suppose to garantee someone's rights but that is not the case. While democracy does stop some abuses of tyrants it does not stop abuses of the majority. A republican form of government restricts the democratic will of the people and protects the rights of every individual because of the restrictions placed on the government.
Think of the first amendment that states that a democratic body can pass no law restricting someone's right of free speech. This is a limitation on politicians who could scheme to take away the rights of the people but also a limitation on the people to take away the rights of their neighbor. That amendment prevents a law that might have the support of 99.999999% of the citizens but if it destroys the right of one citizen to speak freely then that law is null and void which protects the right of each citizen of this country.
In short, democracy can be as much a threat to your natural born rights as any monarchy because what difference does it make of whether a king uses his legal powers to inhibit those rights or your neighbor uses his legal powers through the voting process to do the same? In both cases the method did not matter because the end result was the same.
