A Republican defines "democracy".

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Apparently, the author thinks that we were much more "egalitarian" when it was limited to property owning white males.

http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=92219&format=html

Democracy a misnomer for what was created

By Allen Davis | Martinsville columnist
Monday October 22, 2007

Many people with whom I talk about politics with are stunned by my constant assertions that America is not supposed to be a democracy. I credit public education for this. The fact is that most people are almost totally ignorant of history and completely brain-dead about the Constitution.

Our Founding Fathers did not give us a democracy, nor did they intend to. They were very well-educated men (especially by today's standards), and they knew, historically, democracies had never worked, even on the small scales when they had been attempted. They knew if democracy wouldn't work on the small scale of a city-state (like Athens), then it certainly wouldn't work on the large scale of 13 separate states in a federalist union.


Prior to the War of 1812, our republic was very egalitarian. The vote belonged almost solely to white males who owned property. In the years afterward, a movement began to expand the vote so we would be more "democratic." The franchise was expanded to include more white men, especially in the western "expansion" states. During Jackson's administration, people began talking about America being a "democracy." Jackson's disastrous economic policies led directly to America's first "Great Depression" in 1837 because Jackson was seeking more democracy for America, which resulted in economic ruin due to class warfare against those who had previously held power.

Davis is a native of Indianapolis who served as a GOP Precinct Committeeman for 16 years and moved to Martinsville in 2000. He attended David Lipscomb College, where he majored in American history. He currently works as a writer, editor and freelance graphic artist.

[babylonsister]

1. So we'd be better off if soley white men controlled everything?

Sure, let's go back in that way-back machine. You can't get that paste back in that tube.

[ret5hd]

2. egalitarian?

"Prior to the War of 1812, our republic was very egalitarian. The vote belonged almost solely to white males who owned property."
Does he know what egalitarian means???

Definitions of Egalitarian on the Web:

a social relationship in which neither member of a social pair consistently wins when the two have social conflicts
pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/glossary

a society without formalized differences in the access to power, influence, and wealth.
oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth370/gloss.html

A term that refers to societies lacking clearly defined status differences between individuals, except for those due to sex, age, or skill.
highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007299634x/student_view0/chapter1/key_terms.html

describes the principle of equal rights for all.
wps.pearsoned.co.uk/wps/media/objects/1513/1550326/glossary/glossary.html

a person who believes in the equality of all people
classless: favoring social equality; "a classless society"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal or level) is the moral doctrine that people should be treated as equals, in some respect. Generally it applies to being held equal under the law, the church, and society at large.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarian

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Some are more "equal" than others.

At least in Republican eyes.

[lvx35]

12. Yeah, I'm sure glad we have people like him protecting us from "mob rule".

Heaven knows what would become of us if we didn't have educated men like him there to manage things for the unwashed masses...;)

[ellenfl]

5. hey, cut him some slack . . . he's a republican.

you know they make up their own definitions.

ellen fl

[ixion]

6. yeah, that was my thought as well...

[baldguy]

8. "You keep using that word."

"I do not think it means what you think it means. "

[TahitiNut]

3. I wonder if Sally Hemmings would agree.

:eyes:

Somehow, I don't think egalitarian means equitable treatment of humans as property.

[NC_Nurse]

7. What's egalitarian about only white male property owners getting

to vote?
I guess that's why our country is such a mess...because all of us "others" got to vote.
Wonder why it's still always some white male property owner who runs the whole show
and leads us into the abyss. :eyes:

[supernova]

9. My same question

:wtf:

I guess it's "egalitarian" only if it's for people who look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

[Fridays Child]

10. An honest wing nut!

:wow:

[Odin2005]

11. This moran must be using "egalitarian" the same way Plato uses "justice"

He's twisting the word to convince us rabble to stay in our place. :eyes: