Analyst's note: Absolutely must read. As you consider this article, remember that words really do have meaning. I highly recommend that you read and carefully ponder the entire original article.
I’m fairly certain that everyone from my generation knows the words to The Pledge of Allegiance by heart.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”
When reciting the pledge, we should focus on the meaning attached to these words, most of which were written by Francis Bellamy, commemorating our history in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day at Chicago’s World’s Fair. I say “most” because the original pledge, as written by Bellamy, was altered. Nevertheless, each word in this final version provides our citizenry an appropriate lens through which we may view our world.
â–ª When we the people declare our commitment to the flag, which symbolizes our country, we acknowledge that we are bound by a social contract (compact) to each other in which we agree to abide by the U.S. Constitution which protects the rights of the members of our society.
â–ª We live in a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy, and not a Democratic Republic
â–ª We are united as one Nation, we are not a loose confederation of states.
â–ª Our rights come from God, not legislators
â–ª The US Constitution defines us as one people, indivisible
â–ª Each of us is recognized as possessing certain liberties and we are all treated equally under the justice system.
Though I imagine a great many people recite the pledge without giving much thought to the words, there is one word that begs for our attention –republic. The fact that we are a republic needs to be reiterated over and over. We are not a democracy. It is important that we understand the difference between a republic and a democracy. This cannot be emphasized enough.
Dr. Jonathon Mott, who authors ThisNation.com writes,
“Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, on the other hand, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf. The Framers of the Constitution were altogether fearful of pure democracy. Everything they read and studied taught them that pure democracies ‘have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths’ (Federalist No. 10). ...the Constitution itself...declares that ‘The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government’ (Article IV, Section 4). Moreover, the scheme of representation and the various mechanisms for selecting representatives established by the Constitution were clearly intended to produce a republic, not a democracy.”
The Framers never intended for the citizenry of this country to be ruled by majority, via direct democracy, because it was well known that majority rule “mobocracy” can lead to tyranny and anarchy and the ultimate loss of our sovereignty. Yet who hasn’t heard our government referred to, not as a republic, but a democratic republic or democracy? [....]
We the people, in continuing to form a more perfect union, are struggling. And we’ve been at it for over 200 years. Before attempting to nation build, or encouraging any nation, including our own, to implement democratic processes with the end goal of achieving a democracy, we need to reflect on ourselves as a nation. We can start by identifying that our country is a constitutional republic, not a democracy, and not a hyphenated democracy. We can acknowledge that we are imperfect, but imperfections aside, we are stable and we have done a fairly good job of protecting our freedoms. We must recognize and understand the foundation on which we’ve built this country. There was a fairly unique set of circumstances which contributed to our states coming together and our people ratifying the US Constitution. Probably, the confluence of events will never be repeated the same way ever again, for any other nation. At the most, we should be promoting processes that allow more liberty for people around the world. And at home, we should be questioning and identifying the forces that have allowed for lack of transparency, political standing, and divisions among our people so that we can not only repair the damage but reinforce the structure so that we can remain the land of the free and home of the brave. And a good place to start is to correct people when they call our country a democracy. We are a constitutional republic, not a democracy.
