Why We Don't Need Democracy

As India gets ready for the meaningless ritual of voting – a choice between Tweedledum, Tweedledee and Tweedledumber – it makes sense to ponder what we actually seek to achieve through the democratic method.

At the outset, let us note something that every beat constable and every magistrate, throughout the country, is perfectly aware of: that those who work for political parties, and those who contest elections, are all “outlaws” in the strict sense of the term: they are habitual breakers of The Law.

We all consider it to be a “good thing” when the Rule of Law is upheld and a politician (or his errant son) is booked for violating The Law. We are all anxious to see that this happens most of the time. Unfortunately, because the police is under political control, this is rare.

So we must choose: It is either “democracy” or The Rule of Law. We cannot have both.

Indeed, when some of us speak of “governance” (as opposed to “government”) we refer precisely to this elusive Rule of Law. We call for a government that will provide governance. And by that we mean a political system in which No One Is Above The Law. We want a government that is impartial and unbiased, one that does not allow anyone, however high and mighty he may be, to escape The Law.

Of course, this is a pipedream when politicians pass legislation binding on us all, when bureaucratic agencies empowered by “subordinate legislation” do the same in this “democratic” system in which netas and baboos consider The Law to be something that they have created, and not something that they are Under. These netas and baboos are NOT bound to be Under The Law. They are creators of laws, rules and regulations that “wee the sheeple” are under. The netas and baboos, as makers of law, consider themselves ABOVE THE LAW. This is the reality of Indian Democracy.

The critical error: While democracy in theory is all about “representation,” democracy in practice is about CREATING LAW. All this is “new law.” All these new laws are on the side of Tyranny.

Read my old post on my meeting with Baroness Margaret Thatcher, entitled “Tyranny, She Cried.” This is how a giant among liberal politicians views our socialist monopoly over democracy.

On Tyranny, let us take a small example from the papers today: 100 people, including 40 foreigners, have been arrested by the Bangalore police for partying in a farmhouse. The charge: Liquor was served to them without a valid license.

Is this The Rule of Law?

Or is this Unlaw – the rule of arbitrary diktats?

And is this not hugely excessive: Why arrest 100 people when it is the host alone who is “guilty” of the charge?

I have recently published a post on “Property, Liberty and The Law” (available here) in which I made the crucial distinction between “law” and “legislation.”

With “democracy” all we get is more and more legislation. This is the cause of unlaw. This is the root cause of tyranny. This is why the netas and baboos are Above The Law.

Another recent post was titled “The Purpose of Law’ (available here) in which I said that the only purpose of Law is the protection of all Individuals and their Properties. In this post, I showed how we in India, the sheeple, have NO PROTECTION at all under the Law. The Law has become an instrument of coercion, and is in the hands of thieves, bullies, and tyrants.

A third recent post to which I would like to draw my reader’s attention is the one entitled “Ban The Police,” (available here) in which I showed how we can secure our protection much better without this State Monopoly on Public Security, Investigation, Prosecution and Punishment.

Of course, my reader will have a question: How do we move from here to there? That is the task of Politics, correctly understood, which aims at establishing a “moral consensus” in a community, based on the common recognition of the same rules, which are binding on all.

This is the “purpose of politics,” correctly understood. We do not have such politics in India. All politics here is immoral, behind closed doors, conducted by criminals. All the “political parties” are criminal tribes. In our democratic theatre of the absurd, politics is never a clash of principles. It is just a clash of personalities – the “leaders” of these criminal tribes.

I will discuss the underlying issues of a moral and open politics in greater detail tomorrow. In the meantime, do ponder over the central message of this post: that the choice we face is between Democracy and the Rule of Law. We cannot have both.

Recommended reading: Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s “Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order.” To order a copy of the book, click here.

This blog is on the side of “Natural Order” – based on rules we already follow. That is, Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Order.

Liberty Under Law.

No legislation.

No police.

No tyranny.

No arbitrary diktats.

Liberty!