Despite what you may commonly hear, the US was not intended to be a democracy. James Madison crafted the Constitution specifically to defend against “mob rule” through direct democracy. And we should be thankful for that. As Marvin Simkin wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1992, “Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote.”
1. It fuels growth of government.
Do you know how libertarians always have to worry about how they phrase their desires to shrink government and return to our founding principles? It is because of this very problem. Most Americans don’t want to hear about how you’re going to cut the budget and eliminate services to which they’ve become accustomed. It is for this reason that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have become the “third rail” of politics, even though they take up a ginormous part of the budget. Even think about partially modifying popular (and unsustainable) social programs, and you will soon see yourself in an attack ad pushing a grandmother off a cliff.
