Ancient Greece is credited with several contributions to civilized society, including literature, mathematics, government, architecture, and democracy.
Democracy comes from the ancient Greek word “demokratia” meaning “the power of rule through people.”
The Greeks even had their own form of congress, with a house of representatives. America’s Founding Fathers looked to ancient Greece when they established the United States after the War of Independence.
“What Athens was in miniature, America will be in magnitude,” were the words of Thomas Paine. “The one was the wonder of the ancient world, the other is becoming the admiration and model of modernity.”
Another gift the Greeks gave the world was philosophy. The founding father of Greek Philosophy—Socrates, one of the wisest people who ever lived—had problems with democracy.
In Book Six of “The Republic,” Plato describes Socrates as he points out the flaws of democracy in a conversation with Adeimantus. “If you were heading out on a journey by sea,” asks Socrates, “who would you ideally want deciding who was in charge of the vessel? Just anyone, or people educated in the rules and demands of seafaring?” “The latter of course,” says Adeimantus. “So why then,” responds Socrates, “do we keep thinking that any old person should be fit to judge who should be a ruler of a country?”
Socrates believed that only those who had thought about issues rationally and deeply should be allowed to vote.
There are other problems with pure democracy. People tend to vote for their interests, not necessarily what is good for them or the benefit of society.
A good example would be my 4-year-old granddaughter Kaylee. She loves fruit, cheese, and chocolate. When Kaylee has a choice between an apple and chocolate Easter candy, guess what wins?
In theory—with the advent of computers and high-speed Internet—any society can become a pure democracy. After removing all politicians representing us in city hall, the state house, and Washington D.C., every adult could vote each week on the issues.
In this system, the majority rules; there is no need for Congress or a ruler. This raises another problem, as this form of democracy will ultimately fail to protect minorities.
The majority in the South enslaved blacks until the Civil War. When the chief priests and elders brought Jesus Christ before Pilate over 2,000 years ago the governor found no crime worthy of death. As the bible tells us, the crowd repeatedly called for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate eventually relented to avoid a riot. The majority won.
To avoid these problems, the Founding Fathers settled on a Republic form of government with a constitution to guide us. The U.S. Constitution has 27 amendments.
It is a long process. Proposing an amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate or a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.
Then, it has to be ratified by three-fourths of the States. The 27th Amendment was ratified in 1992, taking 202 years, 7 months, and 10 days. The 1st Congress proposed it on Sept. 25, 1789 along with 11 other amendments. Ten of those we refer to as the Bill of Rights. Another, referred to as the Congressional Apportionment Amendment has not been ratified. It is one of six amendments that remain unratified.
It is a different story with the Missouri Constitution.
Missouri reverts to a pure democracy every two years when we have the chance to change our state constitution with a simple majority at the polls.
Voters continually vote for more candy like sports betting and marijuana despite the harm to society.
Missouri Republicans in 2024 tried to make it harder to change our state Constitution but were unsuccessful. This needs to be done. Changing the Missouri Constitution should not be this easy.
Tragically, Socrates was put to death by a majority vote. After being charged with corrupting the youth, a jury of 500 Athenians—a majority of 52 percent—found him guilty. He was put to death by hemlock.
