Democracy is an inherently harmful system, only to be condoned to the extent that it can be used to replace it with something better. Let run wild, it is essentially a one-way road to Communist tyranny.
The Forty-Fifth through Fiftieth of the Eighty-Eight Precepts address democracy:
Quote45. The Organic founding Law, namely the Constitution of a Nation, must not be amendable by any method other than unanimous consent of all parties thereto and with all parties present. Otherwise, the doors are opened for the advent of that most dangerous and deadly form of government, democracy.
46. In a democracy those who control the media and, thus, the minds of the electorate, have power undreamed of by kings or dictators.
47. The simplest way to describe a democracy is this: Three people form a government, each having one vote. Then two of them vote to steal the wealth of the third.
48. The latter stages of a democracy are filled with foreign wars, because the bankrupt system attempts to preserve itself by plundering other nations.
49. In a democracy that which is legal is seldom moral, and that which is moral is often illegal.
50. A democracy is always followed by a strongman... some call him dictator. It is the only way to restore order out of the chaos caused by a democracy. Pick your strongman wisely! He must be a guardian in his heart. He must be one who has shown that his only purpose in life is the preservation of the folk. His ultimate aim must be to restore the rule of Law based on the perfect Laws of Nature. Do not choose him by his words. Choose one who has sacrificed all in the face of tyranny; choose one who has endured and persevered. This is the only reliable evidence of his worthiness and motives.
Democracy is two wolves and a rabbit voting over what to have for dinner.
Democracy is a system in which there is inevitably a losing party. Not in the sense of a political party that fails to win an election; but rather a party defined by a special interest. For example, if anti-abortionists win the votes and elect the leaders they want, they will pass legislation that renders those in need of abortions to a losing party.
A quote often ascribed to Plato goes "You see those three shepherds on the hill? As long as they can outvote me and Socrates, I will not believe in democracy."
Democracy is often credited to ancient Greece, but what most people don't realize is that most of the great Greek philosophers rejected democracy; it was the ignorant commoner Greeks who adopted it as their preferred method of governance.
Further, democracy is majority rule; and ignorant people tend to outnumber intelligent people. Thus there is the constant tendency of an ignorant majority to overrule an intelligent minority. Haven't you noticed how politics seems to get a bit stupider with every passing election?
Modern pro-democracy propaganda likes to promulgate the notion that "democracy = freedom" and "dictatorship = tyranny"; when in truth, a democracy can easily be a tyranny, and a dictator can be someone who loves his or her people and strive to uphold their rights and liberties and see that their needs are met - such being the most fundamental purpose of government, to serve the needs of the people.
This is why a Republic is fundamentally superior to a Democracy: in a republic, the rights of the individual are protected. In a democracy, the rights of the individual can be voted away.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
- Alexander Fraser Tytler
"Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves."
- Joe Sobran
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To sum up, democracy is at present an inevitable evil with which we must contend, and in which we are forced to participate, in the search for something better.