Democracy is the worship of the majority.  It’s the elevation of quantity over quality, of consensus over truth.  It’s sold as freedom, but in practice, it’s a mechanism of control.  It’s the tyranny of the 51%—or more often, the illusion of 51% manufactured by institutions that guide public opinion and count the votes.

There is no magic in voting.  Ten million people believing something false does not make it true.  Yet, the democratic myth insists that truth emerges through ballots, as if morality were decided by popularity.  You can’t vote away reality.  Two plus two will not equal five just because the crowd wills it.

The democratic state sanctifies this error.  The politician isn’t your servant—he is your master cloaked in campaign slogans.  Democracy doesn’t limit power, it distributes it among those most willing to lie, flatter, and manipulate.  As Mencken said, it’s the theory that the common people know what they want—and deserve to get it good and hard.

What follows from democracy is not liberty, but bureaucracy.  Endless departments, alphabet agencies, and regulations—none of which you voted for, but all of which you must obey.  You are free to choose your rulers, but never to rule yourself.  The more problems democracy creates, the more power is handed to those who created them.

Like all political idols, democracy demands faith.  It must be believed in, regardless of outcomes.  Every failure is blamed on “not enough democracy.” Like statism, it survives through scapegoating—blaming capitalism, tradition, or decentralization.  It’s defended with fury against heretics.

Democracy isn’t a creed of tolerance.  It’s only tolerant while it’s weak.  Once dominant, it silences dissent under the banner of unity.  Just look at the smears hurled at anyone who questions the system: “extremist,” “threat to democracy,” “enemy of the people.” Democracy becomes a god that devours all other gods.

Liberty isn’t collective, it’s individual.  It requires property, choice, and responsibility—not permission from the mob.  It doesn’t emerge from ballots but from boundaries.  No vote gives anyone the right to violate another person’s body or belongings.  No election justifies theft, conscription, or censorship.

The great lie of democracy is that obedience is participation.  That because you voted, you consented. Choosing between masters isn’t freedom.  Consent can’t be coerced.  You aren’t free when you are forced to live by the will of others.

Some will say the alternative is chaos.  What they fear isn’t chaos—it’s independence.  They fear a society where people govern themselves and interact voluntarily.  They fear responsibility.  They believe they’re free, not because they are unchained, but because they got to choose which hand holds the leash.

As Étienne de La Boétie warned, “Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed.” You do not need to overthrow the system—only to withdraw your support.  Power is parasitic.  It feeds on your compliance.  Deny it that, and it collapses under its own weight.

The democratic delusion isn’t eternal.  Like all myths, it fades when exposed.  When the illusion fades, freedom is no longer imagined at the ballot box—it is reclaimed in life.

Reference

Ludwig von Mises; Theory and History