CHAPTER 14
"The Tyranny of the Majority"
While Orwell and Huxley
warned against political and commercial despots, a Frenchman of aristocratic provenance,
warned the other way -- against the "Tyranny of the Majority."1 A nine month visit to the United
States, from May, 1831, to February, 1832, convinced Alexis de Tocqueville that democratic
institutions were not without danger. The main evil stems from unlimited power, he
argued. His reason: "Human beings are not competent to exercise it [unlimited power]
with discretion." In a democratic state, anarchy, or loss of control
over society, is often the result of abuse of force and misemployment of
resources.2
In light of de
Tocqueville's observations, one must ask if the few human beings on top of international
financial pyramids are competent enough to exercise their discretion over the financial
lives of millions of citizens around the world.
John
Kenneth Galbraith on Money Managers. The observations in Galbraith's Money
are not encouraging. Let me quote: "Proof begins with the people who manage money. If
anything is evident from this history, it is that the task attracts a very low level of
talent . . ." [my italics]; more distressing is the fact that "[i]nadequacy
is protected . . . by the fact that failure is not always at cost to those
responsible."3
In Democracy in America,
de Tocqueville cited Jefferson's concern: " . . . The tyranny of the legislature is
really the danger most to be feared . . . The tyranny of the executive power will come in
its turn, but at a more distant period."4 An understanding of Jefferson's
fears is absolutely vital to understanding what must be done to avoid what I call
World War III against the Money Trust (more on this later). Legislative and judicial net
advantages for Big Business and Big Government -- at the expense of the Citizen --
must go. Otherwise, Big Business and Big Government risk the consequences of the Tyranny of the Majority.
The
Declaration of Independence. The tyranny of the majority must
not be taken lightly. The Declaration of Independence, in Congress, July 4, 1776, put it
bluntly:5
- "[A]ll
men are created equal" and "are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights," including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness."
- Governments
are instituted to "secure these rights," their powers deriving from "the
consent of the governed." Without this consent, Governments have no authority.
- "[W]henever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it . . . " in order "to effect their Safety and
Happiness."
The Representatives of the
United States decided to throw off the King of Great Britain, and separate from their
"British brethren." Why? The Declaration is crystal clear: absolute Tyranny and
Despotism. The grievances included:6
- abuses, injuries, usurpations,
plundering,
- oppressions,
- invasions on the rights
of the people,
- misappropriation of
property,
- harassment,
- eating out of the
People's substance,
- cutting off trade,
- unconsented taxes,
- pretended legislation,
pretended offences, and mock trials,
- arbitrary government,
etc.
Today's legislators and
judicial powers should take note. The Declaration's logic is crystal clear. The refusal by
the King to give his "Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public
good" may be sufferable for a while -- but it will not be tolerated by free and independent people.7
In France, the tyranny of
the majority operated differently. Free people who cared more for jobs and bread than for
cake, sharpened, and used, their guillotines.
Voltaire
on Tyranny. It
is instructive to review Voltaire's definition of a Tyrant, in Philosophical
Dictionary: a Tyrant is a "sovereign who knows no laws but his own whim, who
seizes the property of his subjects, and who then enlists them to seize that of his
neighbors."8
It is, therefore, extremely important for Big Business, as creditors, to make sure
that the cumulative number of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and other asset seizures
during a business cycle not be too large; otherwise, Big Business will be perceived as a
Tyrant. Secondly, the duration of the business cycle must be long enough so that the
negative memories associated with perceived oppressions during the slump can have
sufficient time to fade; otherwise, alienation can compound the way
of interest rate!
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1
See Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835 and 1840), edited and
abridged by Richard D. Heffner, 1956 and 1984, at 113-115 (Tyranny of the Majority). 2 Ibid., at 120-121
(The Greatest Dangers of the American Republics Proceed from the Omnipotence of the
Majority).
3 See John Kenneth
Galbraith, Money, 1975 and 1995, at 310.
4 See A. de
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1956 and 1984, at 121.
5 See The United
States Government Manual, 1987, at 1-3 (The Declaration of Independence).
6 See The
United States Government Manual, 1987, at 1-3.
7 Ibid.
8 See Voltaire, Philosophical
Dictionary (1764), edited and translated by Theodore Besterman, 1972, at 398
(Tyranny). |
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