America is now the USSA – with more citizens in jail than in Stalin’s USSR at its height. This is what the posts of the last two days were all about (here - and here), in which I asked Americans and the rest of the world to rally behind Ron Paul.
Today, let us sit back and think what were the errors that made America – the “land of the brave and the free” – come to such a sorry pass.
First: the error that “democracy” means “freedom.” This is precisely what American “statesmen” say abroad – like when they admire India as the “world’s largest democracy.” American statesmen dethroned the Hapsburgs – to spread democracy, and see what a mess resulted. Austria became a socialist disaster. And the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was even worse. They are only just emerging from that nightmare today.
Democracy is NOT freedom – precisely because democracies mean more and more LEGISLATION. It is legislation masquerading as Law that has turned democracies into tyrannies, destroyed liberties and even corrupted both government as well as business. The US Fed was established by legislation. As was the Drug Enforcement Authority.
Legislation is an instrument of INTERVENTIONISM. This “politicizes economic life.” The results are there for all to see – how so-called “representatives of the people” represent neither their constituents nor their constituencies, but represent special interest groups: steel, fertilizers, farmers, and so on. Democracy is destroyed.
The solution: a world of “private law” based on Property, Contracts and Torts. Such laws “protect.” They do not “coerce.” All consensual, voluntary trades are free. There is peace and civic order – without any coercion. There is no “law enforcement.” There are, maybe, constables hired by cities and towns to “maintain order” and “keep the peace.”
This is the error in Law.
The other error is in Economics – for paper money makes for an “unlimited government,” a creature not limited by a Budget. Such a creature – which begins with immoral money and banking, and is essentially corrupt and predatory – finds it easy to buy up support: in parliaments, in academia, in the press, and everywhere else.
The answer lies in “private money” – like private hoards of gold, which no government can create at will.
Will these “destroy the State”?
Well, I know for a fact that in Switzerland, no Swiss citizen I asked knew the name of his or her President. I was there for two weeks.
And the entire world knows the name of the US President!
Democracy aims to diffuse power, not concentrate it.
This error marks US democracy – especially after Lincoln. It marks Indian democracy as well.
As Mises wrote somewhere, in the world of today, “democracy is a word that is lavishly spent.”
Democracy is just a way of selecting those who will run a government. It is far more important to limit the powers and budgets of these people in advance – so that they do not become predators. That is the purpose of constitutions.
But Montesquieu’s fond hope of the “separation of powers” has not worked. Supreme Courts have often been “packed.” "Judicial review" doesn't work.
We need to get back to the drawing boards – and that is the subject of a little book I am currently trying to write.
In the meantime, there are two book covers featured on this post. Try and obtain these books and read them. They are accessible to all. And they will teach you much - about Freedom. About something that democracies have cheated us out of.
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