The Capsizing of American Democracy
James Bovard - Why it will be nearly impossible to shrink the state. So many people depend on it that any attempt to do so threatens them personally. And they vote.
American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees. This has created a voting bloc that overwhelms every other potential force. H.L. Mencken quipped in the 1930s that the New Deal divided America into "those who work for a living and those who vote for a living" -- a division truer now than ever before.
The danger of excessive dependency on democracy has been obvious for nearly 2,000 years. Plutarch observed of the dying days of the Roman Republic, "The people were at that time extremely corrupted by the gifts of those who sought office, and most made a constant trade of selling their voices. "
Once a person becomes a government dependent, his moral standing to resist the expansion of government power is fatally compromised. Every increase in the number of government dependents means an increase in political power. Each increase in the number of government dependents means another person who sees limits on government power as a threat to his own personal well-being.
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