DEMOCRACY IS NOT FREEDOM
By Michael Shaw
September 22, 2010
Young Iranians thronged the streets of Tehran carrying signs in English proclaiming their march for “Democracy” and “Freedom.” The youth of America, the scholars, and increasingly the corporate professionals, regularly profess the same sentiments. This is troubling. The concepts of freedom and democracy conflict so regularly that Plato pronounced, “Democracy leads to anarchy, which is mob rule.” Freedom is the ability to decide and act for one’s self. Democracy requires all people to conform their action to the rule of the majority.
The systems of “justice” at play in America today also contrast. One supports individual freedom and equality of rights (rule of law, equal justice). The other system of justice supports democracy (rule by the majority, social justice).
American principles are based upon the core element of the Declaration of Independence – equal justice. This is the system of law that applies the same law to every person and which implements the concept of a higher law – labeled under the Declaration as “Unalienable Rights.” These are the rights imbued and inherent within each of us that allow all people to lead a life of one’s own, with the liberty to act and the right to the use and enjoyment of one’s private property.