Are we seeing the end of the American republic ? Is the supreme power still held by the people; jointly; with an elected president ? I do not think it is unreasonable to say the politicians hold the power in this country now. Yes, the electorate places those politicians in office and keeps them there. Yes, the electorate can remove those that prove undesirable from those offices. What I am seeing however is those same politicians wielding their power to retain office and making promises. I see an electorate that is selling out their vote in exchange for more government. Are we voting out the republic ? When asked what type of government the continental congress had given America Ben Franklin responded, " a Republic, if we can but yet keep it. " A couple hundred years later and I believe the republic is in danger.
What is the thing about a Republic ? Why is it different from a democracy ? A democracy is a system of government by the whole population or the eligible citizens of that state. The major difference is a republic requires more of a consensus from the electorate then a simple majority. The democratic principle is a simple majority, 51 beats 49. In a republic typically you need 75 to gain that victory. The reason for that is a simple one, it is a far more representative poll of the desires of the population. Two thirds must agree. With that democracy you can have nearly half the population in opposition ! And it is that situation I see our country in right now. Call it political correctness or call it enlightened, call it whatever you want, but we do not want to make a firm decision about anything anymore ! That is why we resort to that simple majority.
The lowest members of society, those with no wealth and no power are being made dependent upon the government. Then those in power in that same government can begin to control that electorate. It is not always by the withholding of benefits, although that is the primary threat, it is also through the promise of more. Those in power are not talking about taking their own funds for redistribution, they are talking about taking the funds of everyone else. Have you heard a single candidate, from either party, talk about reducing the salary of the President or any other government official ? Have you heard about any reduction in their benefits ? No and the reason is a simple one as well. Power. We have a congress that votes itself a raise ! Anyone ever ask you to vote on that ? No. And the reason there is a simple one as well. They would never get one. That is because everyone else already makes enough money, but I never do ! In the original model those politicians, Senators and Representatives , were not paid positions. There were elected to perform the function of government gratis. Up until 1815 those officials only received per diem while they were actually in session. After that they began receiving a salary of 1500 dollars a year. Of course they were then handed the checkbook and could write themselves a raise. Currently the least they receive is 174,000 dollars plus benefits. Not a bad raise over the last two hundred years wouldn't you say ? One hundred and sixteen thousand per cent ! I wonder if two thirds of the electorate would vote for that ?
Is it a coincidence that what is taught in our schools is that we live in a democracy ? Majority rules ! That is the narrative isn't it ? Yes but it is not the whole truth. We wouldn't want too many to be aware of that. We will reserve that privilege to the educated elite. It is much better to just convince the general public that fifty one people want it compared to forty nine so the fifty one wins ! That way we don't have to bother with further discussion or, heaven forbid, compromise ! We can just continue to push the agenda. The removal of the republic is that agenda.
In order to restore the republic I believe we need to begin with one thing. Let us all agree that we are Americans. We are not hyphenated ! If we can not even reach a two thirds agreement that we are all Americans how can we reasonable believe we can retain the republic ? Shall we just abandon that ? A republic require a two thirds majority to be in agreement. You can not achieve that by having a thousand splinters in the society. Yes, one third of the population may not be in agreement that is unavoidable. Someone is going to be " offended. " The thing that made America great was that two thirds majority. It is still achievable, I believe that. We just need to decide upon that once again. The first time we simply made a declaration ! The British weren't happy about that. We can make that declaration again ! We the People, the electorate. We can be that two thirds and override the career politicians. That is why we need to vote !
What is the thing about a Republic ? Why is it different from a democracy ? A democracy is a system of government by the whole population or the eligible citizens of that state. The major difference is a republic requires more of a consensus from the electorate then a simple majority. The democratic principle is a simple majority, 51 beats 49. In a republic typically you need 75 to gain that victory. The reason for that is a simple one, it is a far more representative poll of the desires of the population. Two thirds must agree. With that democracy you can have nearly half the population in opposition ! And it is that situation I see our country in right now. Call it political correctness or call it enlightened, call it whatever you want, but we do not want to make a firm decision about anything anymore ! That is why we resort to that simple majority.
The lowest members of society, those with no wealth and no power are being made dependent upon the government. Then those in power in that same government can begin to control that electorate. It is not always by the withholding of benefits, although that is the primary threat, it is also through the promise of more. Those in power are not talking about taking their own funds for redistribution, they are talking about taking the funds of everyone else. Have you heard a single candidate, from either party, talk about reducing the salary of the President or any other government official ? Have you heard about any reduction in their benefits ? No and the reason is a simple one as well. Power. We have a congress that votes itself a raise ! Anyone ever ask you to vote on that ? No. And the reason there is a simple one as well. They would never get one. That is because everyone else already makes enough money, but I never do ! In the original model those politicians, Senators and Representatives , were not paid positions. There were elected to perform the function of government gratis. Up until 1815 those officials only received per diem while they were actually in session. After that they began receiving a salary of 1500 dollars a year. Of course they were then handed the checkbook and could write themselves a raise. Currently the least they receive is 174,000 dollars plus benefits. Not a bad raise over the last two hundred years wouldn't you say ? One hundred and sixteen thousand per cent ! I wonder if two thirds of the electorate would vote for that ?
Is it a coincidence that what is taught in our schools is that we live in a democracy ? Majority rules ! That is the narrative isn't it ? Yes but it is not the whole truth. We wouldn't want too many to be aware of that. We will reserve that privilege to the educated elite. It is much better to just convince the general public that fifty one people want it compared to forty nine so the fifty one wins ! That way we don't have to bother with further discussion or, heaven forbid, compromise ! We can just continue to push the agenda. The removal of the republic is that agenda.
In order to restore the republic I believe we need to begin with one thing. Let us all agree that we are Americans. We are not hyphenated ! If we can not even reach a two thirds agreement that we are all Americans how can we reasonable believe we can retain the republic ? Shall we just abandon that ? A republic require a two thirds majority to be in agreement. You can not achieve that by having a thousand splinters in the society. Yes, one third of the population may not be in agreement that is unavoidable. Someone is going to be " offended. " The thing that made America great was that two thirds majority. It is still achievable, I believe that. We just need to decide upon that once again. The first time we simply made a declaration ! The British weren't happy about that. We can make that declaration again ! We the People, the electorate. We can be that two thirds and override the career politicians. That is why we need to vote !
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