Is Democracy a God that failed as UNLV Economics Professor Hans Hermann Hoppe claims?

Question

http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe-arch.html

Consider the history of Democracies. For example, the world's #1 Democracy, the USA, has waged numerous wars in the last century (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq II, and soon Iran and Sudan, not to mention numerous others) and has extortionate tax rates and has even resorted to enslaving their population numerous times to fight for the military (and still has registration for this heinous human rights violation). The record of Democracies tends to show that they aren't actually as peaceful as we like to think they are.

Of course, that ignores that Germany had a democracy after WWI and elected Hitler and that most democracies have collapsed.

Is Hoppe right? Is Democracy a God that Failed?

I can name a system that has worked better. The United States had this system in the 19th century. It is called a Constitutional Republic (in such a system, the Constitution, not the will of the people is the supreme law). The 19th century was an era of unprecedented freedom (for example, American citizens paid no federal taxes because the government collected its revenues solely through tariffs and still was debt-free during the Jackson administration), relative peace (the only major wars in the 19th century were started by Napoleon and Abe Lincoln, neither of whom respected the rule of law very much), and unprecedented economic growth (there was actually annual deflation, rather than inflation, even though wages constantly rose and purchasing power rose even more).

Answer 1

Well, if you want to dicker over the definitions of Constitutional Republic and Democracy, then the US is still a Constitutional Republic. It is actually further from a Democracy than when founded. There is some strange truth to the quip, our Republic is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

As for your tally of wars as a demonstration, the US did not start those wars. They were started by tyrants. The US participated to free the oppressed and only asked in return a place to bury our honored dead.

Frankly, I think your Mr. Hoppe is a quack who only wants to complain about government, but contributes nothing to the betterment of his society.

Answer 2

The USA is a representative form of Democracy, which is really not a Democracy, called a Republic.
In a world full of Democracies, there should be no problem, but there are only a handful of Republics in the world and to my knowledge, NO real Democracies.
The problem is NOT the Democracies themselves, but the environment in which they exist. There is much evil in the world, maybe even more today than at any other time in history. Democracy is far from perfect since human nature has a lot of people trying to steal from others or get a free ride on someone else's work. But then fascist Dictatorships and Communist Dictatorships have all those same problems and more.
The person who believes that Democracy will solve all problems is a fool, much the same way one who believes that Socialism solves more problems than it creates is likewise a fool.
A Democratic Republic is the best form of government for Judea-Christian people, but not necessarily the best for Moslems and semetic people other than Jews.

Answer 3

"Democracy is the most efficient form of government ever inventedby the human race. On the record , it has worked better in and in war than fascism, communism, or any other form of dictatorship. As for the mythical yardstick of benevolent monarchy or dictatorship--there ain't no such animal."

"Democracy is not an automatic condition resulting from laws and constitutions. It is a living, dynamic process which must be worked at by you yourself--or it ceases to be a democracy, even if the shell and form remains."
Take Back Your Government - A Practical Handbook for the private citizen who wants democracy to work.-by Robert Heinlein

Answer 4

Countries come and go, governments succeed for a time and fail. That is the way of things. Anyway who thinks that the current borders of today will last infinitely aren't looking at the big picture. Due to many mass uprisings of people throughout human history, mankind has slowly begun to evolve political systems that focus more on the masses than the elite...very slowly. Democracy is part of that process. It is more of an ideal than a reality that can be achieved, much like freedom. But like freedom, democracy is worth trying for. Even if that means being flexible and trying it different ways.

Answer 5

Name any country or political system that has worked better overall than Democracy in the United States.

Answer 6

Well, of course, no system of government is perfect, but I think that a democracy definitely beats a dictatorship!

Answer 7

I was going to answer this but the fact is that none of the info on here is close to being right. And HITLER took over the German Parliament by force you idiot..

Answer 8

When money and greed are allowed to run democracy who do you expect it to of seceded ?

Its been so corrupted !

Answer 9

Our form of government is not democracy. It is a representative republic. It's not perfect, but I wouldn't trade it for any other government.

Answer 10

Nope, he's wrong. The FACT that he chooses to live here in the USA proves it.