Democracy Inevitably Leads to Totalitarianism

America, the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, was on its way to self-destruction the moment it began. This is not the fault of the Left, of CNN, of PBS, of government education, nor does the issue lie with the Republican Party or Fox News. The problem runs much deeper, lurking beneath the surface, giving rise to all these inevitable entities. A Trojan Horse ready to pounce the moment we sleep, an evil that devours liberty and inevitably ends in totalitarianism. Its name, democracy.

Many Americans believe they live in a free country because they lack a good standard of comparison. They liken their situation to that of other democracies and conclude America is indeed the land of the free. Those who think about it know full well the scope of our government has multitudinously increased since its origins, placing blame on the media, government education, politicians, parties, etc. But these entities and more arise naturally in every democratic society on Earth.

Further, over time, and especially when voting rights are expanded, democratic societies always move towards progressivism and more government control. In my book Missing Monarchy: What Americans Get Wrong About Monarchy, Democracy, Feudalism, And Liberty, I document many of the totalitarian policies and nature of America today. If America was ever really the home of the free, it’s been a long time since that could be stated seriously. But was it, as I claim in my book, inevitable?

At its core, America was founded on a progressive system with the ability to legislate and amend its constitution. Professional legislators, politicians seeking election and campaigns funded by backers all are inherent in the system. We appointed judges to decipher and interpret the law so it will say what they desire and, like Ben Gates in National Treasure, they discover all kinds of hidden gems fostering governmental expansion.

We have placed authority at the national level and allowed no outside check to its sovereignty. We allow a professional legislature to gather and create laws; it is meant to be progressive. It is not in the nature of humanity to let go of power (especially politicians who campaign for it) but rather to gather it for themselves. It did not take long for Americans under the Constitution to have a far more authoritarian government than they suffered under King George.

Nothing is safe in democracy; liberty does not exist. Majorities can alter or abolish your rights, and judges can reinterpret them away to nothing. Democracy places your liberty in the hands of a simple majority (whose opinions and beliefs are swayed by those in power); thus, your possessions and liberty constantly need protection; they are ever under threat. Even if you prevent government expansion, nine times out of ten you will lose the war in the long term. Forces that desire to control others will inevitably find ways to achieve it. People will discover over time more areas of life intruded on by government regulations. Things outside of politics will become “political issues” now regulated or under the control of the collective. Libertarians will always be one step behind in trying to plug the holes; thus, in any democracy, liberty is slowly bled to death.

The competitive nature of campaigns, especially at the federal level, ensures that those who want power to utilize it to their advantage and are willing to work with powerful elites and bureaucracies are most likely to win. Major corporations and interest groups looking for subsidies favor politicians who are willing to utilize tax money for their benefit. Thus, those politicians are well-funded and more likely to win an election. Conversely, the same interest groups will remove politicians or laws unwilling to give them what they want: access to D.C.’s power and money.

Likewise, the politicians who offer more of other people’s stuff (taxpayers’ money) will have the upper hand on election day compared to the candidate who does not offer his voters free stuff. People want everything provided for them and believe that D.C. has magical abilities to produce anything they desire, making them more likely to vote for the progressive candidates.

Governments frighten their citizens half to death over environmental scares, viruses, terrorists, “white supremacists,” what will happen if the other party is elected and much else. Further, the government will seek out imperfections; if none are found, it will create them and offer itself as the problem solver. As the government enters these new areas and creates bureaucracies to control them, more employees come within the federal ranks. These agencies become entangled in the system and the parties, and not only they but future politicians now must accept and subsidize them. Eventually, the majority of the population depends on some form of a handout, job, welfare, subsidy, tax break, and so on, and everyone comes into the state’s grasp. Willing slaves predominate, and the result is that the government can do as it pleases and is ensured of its maintenance.

Politicians are not punished for overspending; the next generation must pay the debt. Therefore, they tend to spend, and spend like it’s free. They do not incur the debt, the nation does. They are wealthy, their kids attend private schools, they will do fine, and they gain power and friends by spending, thus leading to more expansion. Today, we are taxed at a higher rate than serfs in the Middle Ages or slaves picking cotton.

Because power is now with the voters, their minds are manipulated by those in authority to control the outcome. Whenever and wherever democracy is implemented, mandatory state education and a compliant media become the managers of citizens’ worldview and thinking. Regardless of where it occurs (or when), democracy inevitably directs its citizens to become docile, hardworking, and taxpaying subjects; they accept government expansion and even desire it. Each state begins to mold its people to its image, instituting a collectivist and nationalist mindset and inducing hostility to the individual and individual liberty.

The result of long-term democracy is either a one-party dictatorship or perhaps an oligarchy of two or more powerful centralized political parties and their media allies manipulating and controlling the economy, politics, and citizens’ minds, swaying them as needed for each election cycle. Despite what American conservatives tell you, propaganda is not a modern, liberal, or Marxist development; it arose as soon as parliamentary forms of governance began. Conservatives themselves indoctrinate their people; they are just currently behind the progressives in it.  

Conservatism is fundamental to democracy, ensuring progressivism long-term. If progressives were unhindered, government expansion and social engineering would occur rapidly, and local push-back, secession, and rebellion would occur. Conservatives ensure the rate of progress is slow enough that all of society is kept under control yet directed progressively forward. Even if conservatives won each election, the resulting government would be many times more authoritarian and oppressive than under King George III because all democratic societies move in that direction, the “Right” playing its part. Liberty is dead; it was killed by the disease called democracy.

-By Jeb Smith

Jeb Smith is the author of Defending Dixie’s Land: What Every American Should Know About The South And The Civil War (written under the name Isaac. C. Bishop) and Missing Monarchy: What Americans Get Wrong About Monarchy, Democracy, Feudalism, And Liberty. You can contact him at jackson18611096@gmail.com.