I’m finally going to have the opportunity to meet Pierre Lemieux. I’ve been visiting Pierre’s website for a few years now, and enjoy his writing. He is going to be speaking in Marmora at the end of the month, along with Jim Turnbull and Marni Soupcoff.
The theme for the event, taking place on March 28, 2004 is “A Future Of Freedom And Democracy?” I’m quite interested in this topic – the more I think about it, the more I am coming to believe that democracy is actually anti-freedom. When a party that is ‘democratically’ elected by less than the majority of the population, and can rule with a majority, there’s something wrong with that picture.
And even if it were a majority that had elected the Government, it still means that the disenting minority will suffer and be forced to act and do things that they wish not to. Of course, if your values are those typical of the majority, this might not matter too much to you. But as soon as your opinion is a minority opinion, just watch how most folks will bluster and complain and demand their ‘rights’.
Although I put thousands each month into the local economy, and my business provides a net gain to my community, my elected officials do not speak for me whatsoever. Instead, they try to find ways to extort more money from me in order to be re-elected, and to please some majority.
This ain’t freedom, folks. Democracy is just as much about power and control as a dictatorship is – the only difference is that the stolen goods are divied up a bit more, or made to appear that way, in most democracies. But the fact of the matter is, a dictatorship relies on the same methods as democracies do.
The word ‘democracy’ itself can mean different things, and can have different methods depending on who you ask. It’s become a buzz word really, that means very little. Even in the United States, the term democracy is thrown around when in fact, the founding fathers of that nation never envisioned a democracy at all. Most Americans I’ve spoken with don’t understand this even.
Entire books and theses have been written on this, and I don’t really feel up to expounding upon the dangers of democracy this evening. However, I am looking forward to hearing Lemieux, Turnbull and Soupcoff’s take on freedom and democracy, and whether the two are related.
If you live in Ontario, Marmora is just a little east of Peterborough, and it will probably be worth the drive. More information about this event is available at: http://www.marmora.org/event/