To The Republic

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

How many times have we uttered those words? They are memorized by children across the nation and recited in public gatherings daily. It is spelled out very specifically that our allegiance is to the Republic. We know that this nation is a Republic. And yet for the last 100 years there has been an effort to label us as a Democracy. Unfortunately the effort has paid off. Too many people in our country believe us to be a Democracy. True there are some Democratic elements, but we are in fact a Republic.

I wonder how the Founder's felt about Democracy, hmmm.

"Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." John Adams

"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths." James Madison (from the Federalist Papers #10)

Somehow I get the feeling they didn't like Democracy too much. I wonder how the felt about a Republic, hmmm.

"The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind." Thomas Jefferson

"A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking." James Madison (from the Federalist Papers #10)

"The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." George Washington

"There is no good government but what is republican. That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so; because the true idea of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.' That a republic is the best of governments, so that particular arrangement of the powers of society, or, in other words, that form of government which is best contrived to secure an impartial and exact execution of the law, is the best of republics." John Adams

"The republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to betray their interests." Alexander Hamilton (from the Federalist Papers #71)

So, it really doesn't take a whole lot of intense research to realize that yes, we are a Republic. Republicanism is the foundation for this free nation, not Democracy. So, why in the world does everybody believe that we are a Democracy. Well, its because it is part of the Progressive agenda to convince us that that is what we are. But, as it turns out the politicians now don't really even care what the majority of the people want, case in point the recent Health Care Reform passage. They achieved their ends of convincing us we are a Democracy, and then pushed forward to accomplish whatever else their agenda calls for. In short it calls for controlling the masses. How do you control the masses? You convince them that you are giving them what they want, and that they need you as their leader to continue to do so. Than you convince them that you know what is best for them, and then give them that. If it sounds like it is approaching tyranny that's because it is. Democracy ends up tyranny eventually. And then because people despise tyranny they will eventually revolt into all out anarchy. The Founders knew that, it's time that reality was broadcast more to the nation.

Since I've already used a bunch of quotes (this has been one of my easier posts :) I'm going to give you a bit more. When I was a teenager I read a novel with a message that has stuck with me ever since. I was recently re-reading it. It is called The Freedom Factor by Gerald N. Lund. It has a lot of sappy parts, and it is kinda old, but it has a pretty powerful message. It centers around a young Senator's aid, Bryce, who is working to pass an amendment to the Constitution that will make us more of a Democracy. He gets a visit from one of the Founding Fathers, a Nathaniel Gorham, who participated in the Constitutional Convention. I thought the following conversation was very well depicted and explains the difference between Democracy and Republic. It starts with Bryce.

"Well, maybe it's time you opened your eyes, Mr. Colonial America. Maybe it's time this tired old democracy you created got a new shot of adrenalin."
"we didn't create a democracy," Gorham said softly. "You still can't see it, can you?"
"All right, so you created a republic and not a democracy. It is still supposed to represent the voice of the people."
"Do you really understand the difference between a republic and a democracy?. . .Don't you know why you've got a national debt big enough to build every man, woman, and child in the solar system a solid-gold outhouse? And why half the world is on the verge of bankruptcy? Don't you see the basic flaw in a true democracy?. . . A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government because sooner or later the people come to realize that they can vote themselves direct benefits out of the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate or the program promising the greatest benefits from the public treasury. That's what killed Rome. Even the emperors couldn't keep up with the constant demand for bread and circuses. Sooner or later the government goes bankrupt. Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, and inevitably no matter how long it may take, it will always be followed by a dictatorship... And all this talk about giving more say to the people. That's what's happening here. In the last few years the primary function of the United States government has become the redistribution of wealth-taking money through taxation from one segment of society and giving it to another. . .The real movers behind this amendment, the ones who drive those long black cars and live in the luxurious apartments in Georgetown, don't give a tinker's dam about the voice of the people. They're after power, pure and simple. The Constitution stands in their way and their sole purpose is to remove that and every other stumbling block that prevents them from reaching their goal. . . It's bread and circuses all over again, Lad. And your amendment is one more step on the long road to so-called democracy. If you can't see that, and get others to see it, then may God help you, son. God help you all."

With determined sometimes methodical deliberation the minds and wills behind this transforming idea, of making us into a Democracy rather than what we really are, have led us all carefully to that door. Marching us along a path of which if we could see beyond Democracy we would find it continues and it leads straight to tyranny. It always has, it always does, and it always will.

We need to restore the truth that this nation was founded as a Republic. We need to restore those principles. We need to weed out the corruption and the political machines in order to be able to do so. But, we also just need to spread the truth about this country. We've pledged our allegiance to the flag and to the Republic she represents. Let us honor that pledge. Tell people like it is, we are a Republic.