We are told from an early age that democracy means rule by the people.  We elect representatives, and they act on our behalf.  That’s the theory.  Does casting a vote really give you control?  Politicians campaign on promises they have no intention of keeping.  The system ensures that once in office, they serve a different master.

Elections don’t transfer power to the people.  They legitimize the rule of those already in power.  The choices given are pre-selected.  The debate is carefully framed.  Dissent is absorbed and neutralized.  Voting is presented as participation, but it’s just permission—permission for the same system to continue.  If elections could truly threaten the structure, they would not be allowed.

The parties pretend to oppose each other, but they grow the state in unison.  One expands government through welfare, the other through warfare.  One promises security, the other promises prosperity.  The cycle repeats.  The state always wins.  The idea that politicians will voluntarily shrink their own power is laughable.  The bureaucracy remains, no matter who is elected.

Every few years, the public is given a simple task: pick a side.  Red or blue, left or lefter.  It’s a spectacle, designed to create the illusion of choice while keeping power centralized.  The media fuels this manufactured rivalry, ensuring the population is too distracted fighting each other to realize the game is rigged.  Elections don’t determine rulers—they confirm them.

The system thrives on public buy-in.  As long as people believe they have control, they will accept whatever the government does.  Voting is treated as sacred, yet the outcome is always the same: more laws, more taxes, more government.  The illusion of choice keeps people invested in the system, believing their voice matters.  The machinery grinds on regardless.  The state doesn’t serve the people—it feeds on them.

Real power isn’t found at the ballot box.  It’s in the hands of those who control the institutions, the currency, and the narrative.  Democracy, in practice, is just a managed process to keep the population compliant.  The myth must be maintained.  If people saw through it, they might stop playing along.  That is what the system fears most.

Reference

Michael Huemer; The Problem of Political Authority