Our Democratic System

Anarchist blogger Broadsnark responded to a post I had made on our democratic system, but because her comments section is super-anal and won't allow long comments, I'm posting my reply here:

First off, I'd like to say that "Love it or leave it" is most definitely NOT what I'm saying here. That's the attitude of those who insist that you have to love America the way that it is and that if you attempt any change of it, including change within the democratic process, you hate America and should leave. And this is the attitude of head-in-the-sand conservatives who insist upon pretending that America has done no wrong and that if you think any wrong has been committed, you hate America. But as much as I love my country (and I truly do), I readily admit that it has done many shameful things that have brought discredit to it. So no, I don't insist that you have to love America the way it is or leave. I myself would like to see many more changes, so that America becomes the ideal of what it should be.


Secondly, I did nothing but state the social contract that we all have with our country. Minors aren't old enough to enter into contracts, but their parents are. So your parent's decisions are binding on you, whether you like it or not. Just ask any child actor who got robbed by his folks and he'll assure you that your parents can enter you into shitty contracts and then steal all your money. And once you turn eighteen, you can choose to leave. That's not my opinion, that's just how the world works.

Finally, the focus of my post was on our democratic process, not on accepting the status quo. And my point is that, if you don't like how our country is, work to change it. Help elect representatives that will represent your interests or run for office yourself. And thusly, change what you want to see changed. And if you can't get enough people to agree with you, then tough. That's how it works. If you think our system is broken, then fix it. And if you don't like our process for fixing it, leave. And if you want to rebel, then rebel, and face the consequences. There are no other options.

And it should be stressed that this argument was explictly written for conservatives who INSIST that Obama doesn't have the right to force healthcare reform on us. And the title of my post came from the conservative belief that "taxation is theft." And as I explained, taxation is in accordance with our system of government, so if taxation is theft, then democracy is also theft. And my "love it or leave it" style rhetoric was specifically chosen to throw their own rhetoric at them; though I never used that specific phrase.

And I like the democratic method, because frankly, I don't agree with lots of what you might want. We can't all win. That's the point. And it doesn't matter if you were born into an oppressive government, or a "fixed" system you don't agree with. You still don't have the right to force anything on me any more than I can force it on you. That's why we agreed to democracy. Because it gives us all a chance to get the government we want, based upon majority opinion.

And from what I can tell, that's what anarchists seem to want too. They want democracy based upon majority opinion, and merely object to what they see as a permanent ruling class that dictates orders. And if that's what you want, elect it. Work to get as many anarchists into Congress as you can, and have them fix the system. What other choice do you have? Can you possibly be saying that you're going to rebel and FORCE the rest of us to adopt your anarchist system? I don't think so. So you either have to use our democratic process to get your anarchy, or you don't get it in this country. There is no other logical option.

And if you don't like it, then go to the magical land that allows us all to be our own personal dictators. But as you realize, such a place doesn't exist. We can't all be dictators. So democracy is the next best option. And if you don't like it, fix it. And if you don't like democracy, leave. I never suggested that you have to love what America is, but if you want to live here, you got to play by the rules. And that's all I was saying.