"A democracy is a state in which the poor, gaining the upper hand, kill some and banish others, and then divide the offices among the remaining citizens equally." (About 370 BC, Plato)

And about 63 BC, Seneca, a Roman wrote: "Democracy is more cruel than wars or tyrants."



>Actually, we started out the same with only a minority voting in the U.S., remember? We are slowly moving towards a democracy day by day and away from a Republic. A true test of whether we are a democracy or not is when the majority can vote to control the resources of the minority and get away with it. When the rich minority must give their wealth to the poor majority we will have turned into a true democracy. Oh, that's right, we are there already!
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>>Hola Tracy!
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>>The main flaw of modern democracy is that it's an aberration on the greek concept: it doesn't take into account that when the greeks applied its principles, not EVERYBODY had voting rights - they had second-class citizens who didn't enjoy the right to vote. Only the elite (rich, powerful, and/or educated males) had that right. Oligarchy would be a better term, but they used that for defining pockets of power within the larger "democratic" group.
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>>I personally don't think that anyone should have the right to vote based on age alone, but of course, that wouldn't fly in a world where politicians rely heavily on obtaining the vote of the masses through sheer manipulation of those less able to comprehend the consequences of voting one way or another. Most of the voting population of the world is uneducated. Promise a poor man that he'll be rich if you're president and you'll get that vote. As simple as that.
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>>Democracy, I must add, also has within itself the seeds of its own destruction, as anyone with the right amount of votes, regardless of their political agenda, can reach power. That's what happened in venezuela with chavez' rise to the presidency, and now he practically has all the branches of power in his hand. There's a recall (a'la Schwartzenegger) in the works to de-elect him, but only God knows if that will come to fruition.
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>>Before saying that such a thing couldn't happen in the US, keep in mind that that's exactly what the venezuelans keep saying when they talk about Cuba even though, unfortunately, everything points in that direction should chavez stay where he is.
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>>Have fun!
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>>Alex
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>>>Hi Mike,
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>>>I'm not sure anyone else has responded on this so please forgive me if this is redundant.
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>>>There is a clear distinction between a Republic and a Democracy and the U.S. is clearly a Republic. It may have democratic principles, but that is not the same thing.
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>>>In a Republic minority individual rights are the highest priority overwriding all else. All citizens have natural rights as opposed to just civil rights. Individuals are protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority. For instance, on a jury (a very good example) one single vote can prevent the majority vote. This was designed to prevent government from depriving any citizen of his/her individual rights. If we were a democracy then the majority would always have prescendence and there would be no such thing as a significant minority. A democracy is a government of the masses where authority is derived through a mass meeting. Democracy is the direct rule of the people and has been failed throughout history. I was taught in history that our forefathers defined a representative republic and not a democracy for that very reason. Our forefathers were terrified of the effects of democracy and autocracy. It amazes me that the popular opinion today leans more towards
>>>socialism and democracy than as in our history - the individual and his rights.