Peter Viereck Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"Democracy, though slowly attained and never by revolutionary jumps, is the best government on earth when it tries to make all its citizens aristocrats. But not when it guillotines whoever is individual, superior, or just different."

by:	Peter Viereck [Peter Robert Edwin Viereck] (1916-2006) American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, political thinker, professor of history at Mount Holyoke College
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Categories:	Aristocracy, Democracy, Government, Revolution
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Reader comments about this quote:

Democracy is a matter of convincing the majority that evil is good, good is evil and that those who resist evil shall be ridiculed and punished, God forbids it, Ex.23:2 and the Constitition precludes it, Art.4,Sec.4 The limited republic is out and unlimited democracy is in! www.morpix.biz/dc -- Dave Wilber, Saint Louis
This is when one aristocrat desires the fortune of another aristocrat. -- Anon
Democracy is marginally workable among a small group of friends. It is completely useless to a mob of millions, giving the illusion of choice while ensuring a singular result: massive growth of the State into a social democracy. Republican democracy is better only in that it moves toward this end more slowly. -- Justin, Elkland 1
Our necks are stretched out... -- aa, hb
It doesn't matter if a democracy makes all of its inferior citizens aristocrats. A democracy still breaks in to segments the strong and numerous aristocrats, putting them at odds with the weak and the few. A democracy by definition can not perceive an individual, only the most powerful group. All democracies supposes they can make law - NONE CAN. Inalienable rights are contrary to and non-existent in a democracy. -- Mike, Norwalk
The intent is good - the word Aristocrat is immaterial to the intent. Tell me Mike, in a not so called perfect world, who would be responsible for the administration of one's Inalienable rights. -- RBESRQ
Robert, in a perfect and a non-perfect world, the individual (sovereign) or, a person(s) hired by the individual to represent him would be responsible for the administration of one's inalienable rights. A democracy is neither an individual or a concept that (with in its scope of definition) is capable of administering inalienable rights. A democracy makes laws for the group (it only sees the forest, not the trees - inflicting the individual with injustice) not the several individuals. -- Mike, Norwalk
Mike, A person hired would be responsible to administer that persons inalienable rights? what would be that persons political position? would they form a political party or an organization? And, if so what would this entity be called? Who and what would be responsible for the states infrastructure? And, how would the states infrastructure be funded? I'm just trying to understand how the individual (sovereign) will have their rights administered. -- RBESRQ
It is the 'promise' of raising the lower class to the equal of the higher classes that politicians run for office. After all, the most votes win, and since there are more poorer than richer (and will always be so), the promise of taxing the rich to give to the poor is the Democratic platform. Of course, it is the aristocrats that actually 'pay' to support candidates, and usually it is another fellow aristocrat running for office all the while knowing that the common man knows nothing about what happens behind congressional doors once the politician is in office. Rights do not have to be 'administered' -- they have to be 'protected' and 'defended.' But since government today is all about voting for money, they must 'administer' where that money is going to come from and where it is going to go. The common people have forgotten about their rights -- just 'show me the money.' Is it any surprise then that we have aristocrats as the ruling class? The republican form of government for the USA was originally designed to incorporate the 3 most common forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy with the Executive, Senate, and House of Representatives. But the aristocratic branch (the Senate) was morphed into a popular democracy and thus the aristocrats entrenched themselves as the money power and have formed a defacto oligarchy as the Federal Reserve Bank. The masses may think they can vote away the property of the wealthy, but they are in fact indenturing themselves even further to that class because they have been duped into accepting debts and promises as the real thing, all the while the noose ever tightens. Forget about the guillotine -- what about a lifetime of servitude to the state?! -- E Archer, NYC
When you realize that democracy does not guillotine or just plain kill, you will have reached the personal revolutionary entrance to democracy. Venture to guess when a species reaches the point of authentic universal democracy everyday is truly revolutionary. Everyday in universal democracy there is a spellbinding advance. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1

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