Very rarely do I bother scrolling through my Facebook feed. I'm not really sure why I ever do, to be honest. The vast majority of the time I find nothing of any real interest, good or bad. But occasionally, as I scroll through every asinine political opinion, every generic prayer, and every insipid inspirational quote, my mood begins to darken. I find myself besieged by a heavy ennui. I hear tell that God made these people in his image. Heaven help us.
This is part of the reason that it is difficult for me to share people's faith in democracy. I'm supposed to let this majority's representatives wield power against me? They should get to decide the boundaries of my freedom? We have been doing this whole "let the masses choose a leader" thing in America for more than 200 years and behold what it has brought us! Nothing but liars, thieves, and war mongering mass murderers. I'm supposed to choose between Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz? Or maybe Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump? Am I the only one who sees how fucking stupid this has become?
I watched CNN's highlights of the most recent Republican "debate". The crowd was booing and cheering all that they hated and all that they loved respectively. Is this a football game? How is one expected to perform his patriotic duty of pretending that the debates carry intellectual significance while jackasses are howling over the canned responses of charlatans and would be despots? As a friend of mine noted, "It's like a reality t.v. show. No wonder Trump is doing so well." H.L. Mencken, sage that he was, always seemed to be able to cut through the shit and get right to the heart of the matter (if I may so crassly mix metaphors):
If x is the population of the United States and y is the degree of imbecility of the average American, then democracy is the theory that x X y is less than y.
"But Brandon, or Anthony, or whatever the hell you're calling yourself these days," I can hear you protest. "Democracy may not be perfect, but it's the best thing we've got. Would you rather we were ruled by a king?" I must admit that King Numbers has been a far gentler chieftain than any socialist dictator. But America doesn't have a true democracy, fortunately. The Founders were a bunch of aristocratic elitists who didn't fully trust that liberty would be protected by the mob rule of the plebs. Government for the People and by the People? Not so much. But they did give the People a say. And as that germ of Democracy has grown, so has the power of the State, particularly that of the executive branch.
You see, it was never democracy that was the most important factor in America's formerly unprecedented wealth and freedom. It was adherence to a sound philosophy. Individual liberty and private property rights were given primacy over the capricious opinions of 51% of the population. Voters chose candidates, then as now, who were made to swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. They were pledging to never make legislation that would violate natural rights or the rule of law. But no one takes that pledge seriously anymore. They know you don't care.
I suppose people have pretty much been the same throughout recorded history. I highly doubt that they will be changing anytime soon. I don't even know why I bother with most social media. I'm not really a social butterfly. I'm more like a moth. I'm attracted to the people who have light shining out of them. I want nothing to do with the dim.
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