- Feb 5, 2002
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From the article.
True democracy is worth defending., but bogus democracy is really just a tyranny.
Surely nobody in this day and age has the temerity to suggest that there’s anything wrong with democracy? Surely I am not doing so?
Well, it depends what exactly we mean by democracy. As always, it's important that we define our terms. Democracy means the rule of the people (Demos = People).
The rule of the people could be the rule of the Majority (note the upper case). This is not necessarily a good thing. Nazi Germany was the rule of the Majority and the oppression by the Majority of the Minorities. The communist regimes in the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China were also governments ruled by the Majority, i.e. the workers, at least in theory (unlike the Nazis, the communists were never elected to power by the “Majority” that they claimed to represent). In theory (it was many more things in practice), Communism was the oppression by the Majority (poor) of the Minority (rich). This form of "democracy" is tyranny.
Ironically, and paradoxically, modern western “democracy” is not always the rule of the Majority but the rule of a coalition of Minorities who use the political mechanisms to further their own sectional interests, through lobbying, control of the media etc. In such pluralistic “democracies” the Majority is often not only silent but impotent. This form of “democracy” is also tyranny, though of a softer variety.
Continued below.
Is Democracy Worth Defending?
True democracy is worth defending., but bogus democracy is really just a tyranny.
Surely nobody in this day and age has the temerity to suggest that there’s anything wrong with democracy? Surely I am not doing so?
Well, it depends what exactly we mean by democracy. As always, it's important that we define our terms. Democracy means the rule of the people (Demos = People).
The rule of the people could be the rule of the Majority (note the upper case). This is not necessarily a good thing. Nazi Germany was the rule of the Majority and the oppression by the Majority of the Minorities. The communist regimes in the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China were also governments ruled by the Majority, i.e. the workers, at least in theory (unlike the Nazis, the communists were never elected to power by the “Majority” that they claimed to represent). In theory (it was many more things in practice), Communism was the oppression by the Majority (poor) of the Minority (rich). This form of "democracy" is tyranny.
Ironically, and paradoxically, modern western “democracy” is not always the rule of the Majority but the rule of a coalition of Minorities who use the political mechanisms to further their own sectional interests, through lobbying, control of the media etc. In such pluralistic “democracies” the Majority is often not only silent but impotent. This form of “democracy” is also tyranny, though of a softer variety.
Continued below.
Is Democracy Worth Defending?