Statism

Statism is a political system in which the state has substantial centralized control over social and economic affairs and responsibilities that use to be in the hands of the individual. In political science, statism is the belief that the state should control either economic or social policy, or both, to some degree.

Statism is effectively the opposite of anarchism.

An individual or person who supports the existence of the state is a statist.

The term "statism" was introduced to American political vocabulary by the writer Ayn Rand in 1962. We see the rise of Statism with Cain and Nimrod and the antithesis of it in Pure Republics where the leaders are titular.

A Viable republic requires a virtuous people.

We should not confuse a pure Republic with an indirect democracy nor even a constitutional Republic unless all five attributes of a republic are includedc in the constitution of that Republic.

The United States is a democracy within a Republic that was created by the states to guarantee a Republican form for the States. The people were not a party to the the indirect democracy called the United States nor were the people of the states a party to the creation of the United States. They were citizens of the individual States.

Americans have moved from a virtuous self reliant republic to covetous “democracy in a republic.”^[1] This process is done more by contract, application, and participation than by vote.

The people have become a nation of consumers, who willing bite their neighbor for their own personal security. People have fallen in love with the benefits offered by democracy. But at what price?

James Madison, 1787, stated in the Federalist Paper #10 that “Democracy is the most vile form of government ... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention: have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” Fisher Ames, an author of the First Amendment, said, “A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way.” In 1815 John Adams: “Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy]. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”

John Marshall, longest serving Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, “Between a balanced Republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.” Even Alexander Hamilton said “Real Liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy.” Benjamin Franklin warned emphatically that “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” He understood that a “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”

Long before these men voiced their objections Plato postulated “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy...” And long after Adams, Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Democracy is morose, and runs to anarchy.” Winston Churchill wrote that: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” He went on to say that “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

More recently historian and Congressman Ron Paul said “Our country’s founders cherished liberty, not democracy.” I did find that Karl Marx, who was an advocate of communism, claimed “Democracy is the road to socialism.”

“It is difficult to understand, how any one who has read the proceedings of the Federal Convention can believe that it was the intention of that body to establish a democratic government.”^[2]

“Accustomed to trampling on the rights of others you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.”^[3]

“Under a democratic government, the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude.”^[4]

“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to [do] evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest [judgment]:” Exodus 23:2

“A simple democracy is the devil’s own government.”^[5]

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Footnotes

↑ April 3, 1918, the American creed was read in Congress, “I believe in the United States of America as a government… whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed: a democracy in a republic.”
↑ The Spirit of American Government, Professor J. Allen Smith.
↑ Abraham Lincoln, September 11, 1858.
↑ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776.
↑ Benjamin Rush, John Joachim Zubly, pastor and delegate to Congress, in a 1788 letter to David Ramsay. William Elder, Questions of the Day, (Baird publisher, 1871) p.175. Also attributed to Jefferson & Jedidiah Morse.

[1] April 3, 1918, the American creed was read in Congress, “I believe in the United States of America as a government… whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed: a democracy in a republic.”

[2] The Spirit of American Government, Professor J. Allen Smith.

[3] Abraham Lincoln, September 11, 1858.

[4] Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776.

[5] Benjamin Rush, John Joachim Zubly, pastor and delegate to Congress, in a 1788 letter to David Ramsay. William Elder, Questions of the Day, (Baird publisher, 1871) p.175. Also attributed to Jefferson & Jedidiah Morse.

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Statism

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