** 28-Feb-2022 World View: Not a democracy, but a Republic, with freedom and liberty
Those people in this forum who are criticizing "democracy" are
misguided. The United States is not a democracy, except in an
informal sense. Nazi Germany was a "democracy." In fact, all the
genocidal sociopathic leaders like to brag that they were popularly
elected in a democracy. Being a democracy means nothing.
Benjamin Franklin said, "It's a Republic, if you can keep it."
This is the Republic of the United States of America.
The US constitution does not mention the word "democracy." It
mentions the word Republic in one place:
> "The United States shall guarantee to every State in
> this Union a Republican Form of Government"
The Preamble to the Constitution is as follows:
> "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."
The Constitution does not guarantee democracy. It guarantees Liberty.
The first paragraph in the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, says:
> "Congress shall make no law respecting an
> establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
> or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
> the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
> redress of grievances."
The Star-Spangled Banner calls America "The land of the free and the
home of the brave."
The Declaration of Independence guarantees certain rights, and "Among
these rights are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
It's Liberty and Freedom and the Pursuit of Happiness that make
America special. And it's Liberty and Freedom that America wants for
other countries.
Ukraine is a free country. Taiwan is a free country. If they are
conquered by Russia and China, respectively, they will no longer be
free. Liberty, Freedom and the Pursuit of Happiness will be a thing
of the past.
A related issue is the misguided criticism of "capitalism." The
best term is "free markets."
The United States is a great country because of Liberty, Freedom, the
Pursuit of Happiness, and Free Markets.