2019-06-22 When democracy fails

ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
June 22, 2019

This is a letter to our friends –

When democracy fails

When you think of “democracy” think “majority rule”. All parties have a vote and the majority opinion decides the issue.

Two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner, illustrates the tyranny of the majority. The ultimate democracy is a lynch mob. Only one man objects! Our founding fathers knew history. Sometimes they called democracy “mob-ocracy”.

Human nature being what it is, an ungoverned democracy will degrade into anarchy (i.e. lawlessness). One of our founders put it this way, “There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide!”

Majority rule is self-governing in a small group. The majority is aware of and must take responsibility for its decisions and the consequences. A colonial new England town meeting for example.

On the other hand, majority rule in a state or nation will fail to protect its citizens. The massive majority is largely unaware of the unintended consequences. That is why our founders chose to divide and subdivide, using majority rule to select representatives who could share the interests of their constituents in a republic.

Our Constitution created a unique way to elect the national CEO (Chief Executive Officer). It is called, the Electoral College.

(Preamble)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article II (Article 2 – Executive)
Section 1
1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
Note carefully the way our constitution begins (The Preamble): It does NOT say, “We the people in order to form a more perfect union.” Rather, “We the people of the United States … .” [Emphasis “people of the States.” which are united.]

He is not the president of the people. He is the president of the States. He is not elected by the people. He is elected by electors representing the wishes of their respective States.

Before the people unwisely ratified the 17th amendment (1913), the two U.S. Senators from each State were elected by the legislatures of each state. (A relatively small group that represented well, the interests of each State. 120 lawmakers in California as opposed to a majority of millions of California voters today.) Once in office, a U.S. Senator is, in effect, answerable to no one!

Do away with the Electoral College and elect the President by a nationwide majority and you will have the same thing!

“The measure of our fundamental law is not whether it actualizes the general will (majority) — that was the point of the French Revolution, not the American. The measure of our Constitution is whether it is effective at encouraging just, stable, and free government – government that protects the rights of its citizens.” [Trent England / Hillsdale’s “Imprimis”, June 2019]

These columns are archived since 12/10/09
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Ben Gilmore 1929-2023

On March 30, 2023 Ben Gilmore, the co-founder of ACHStudyGroups (co-founded with his wife Fran), went to be with the Lord in Glory.

A Memorial: https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/BenGilmore/