Monkey Cage Democracy

Serious Defects in Modern Democracy				satirist, H L Mencken, Democracy is the art of
1 Monkey Cage Democracy				running a circus from a monkey cage. This is quite
In 150 BCE, the Greek philosopher Polybius				apt as the silent majority seem to prefer
suggested that democracy grows, over time, into				entertainment to education with the alpha
mob rule. To overcome this serious problem he				monkeys dancing to the tune of the corporate
advocated a mixed constitution of Monarchy,				and political power-brokers circus organ grinders.
Aristocracy and Democracy, by which democratic				Aggressive radicals on the right and left of politics
government could be maintained by a system of				constantly attack the policies they each disagree
checks and balances. These were only possible				with, imposing a self-similarity between both
within a democratic model based on physics and				opposing ideologies that belittles the democratic
geometry.				ideal of government.
Such political considerations were lost to History				To achieve a fair and balanced society there has
during the European Dark Ages, only to emerge				to be policies based on the peoples' needs as a
as fledgling democracies In France and America				whole, not monkey-chattering rhetoric only paying
during the 18th Century. The Founding Fathers of				lip service to the democratic ideal. In the modern
American Democracy modelled their Constitution				Western democratic system both groups of
on the published mechanistic physics of Sir Isaac				radicals have the least trust in the system. They
Newton. This was an unbalanced model because it				are exhibit similar attitudes in what political
lacked the ancient Greek creation principle that				scientists McClosky and Chong call "paranoid
allowed feed-back loops to make sure effective				tendencies", with each opposing faction embracing
checks and balances are in place.				their own pet conspiracy theories. Both view
So is it possible to have effective Democracy not				American society as dominated by conspiratorial
based on balanced and sustainable physics?				forces that are working to defeat their respective
History suggests that Polybius did not think so.				ideological aims. This can only lead to Polybius' mob
However, Polybius was not the first political				rule, in which a flawed ideal is aped by politically
theorist to realise this; Plato and Aristotle had also				apathetic masses.
suggested power separation. Plato, as shown in his				In Monkey-Cage Democracy the far left and the
Republic much preferred rule by Aristocracy than				far right also resemble each other in the way
by, what he saw to be, unintelligent masses.				they pursue their political goals. Both are disposed
Aristotle, who was all for Institutional Democracy				to censor their opponents, to deal harshly with
incorporating three branches of government, the				enemies, to sacrifice the well-being, even of the
citizenry, the executive, and the judicial. The				innocent, in order to serve a 'higher purpose', and
American form of Democracy is a Constitutional				to use cruel tactics if necessary to 'persuade'
Republic in which its democratic system and all the				society of the wisdom of their objectives. Both
fairness it implies, is only a part the political model.				extremes tend to support or oppose civil liberties
During the European Dark Ages these principles				in a highly partisan and self-serving fashion.
were lost and were only partly fused into the				This modern example of democratic governance,
fledgling democracies of America and France				based only upon Newton's published unbalanced
during the 18th Century. For example, the				physics principles, clearly shows the reason for
Founding Fathers of American Democracy				Plato's charge against democracy, in that it simply
modelled their Constitution on the published				violates the proper order of society by creating
mechanistic physics of Sir Isaac Newton, unaware				an artificial equality. He saw it as a hypocritical,
of his more profound unpublished principles of				irrational form of constitution based on the
Greek life science. These modern unbalanced				assumption that every citizen is equally entitled to
models of Democracy became Plutocracies,				a say in political affairs, no matter how unsuited
lacking the ancient mechanisms to ensure that				he is in terms of ability, character or training. Plato
effective checks and balances existed in political				was very aware that Democracy ruled by
governance.				untrained monkeys would certainly turn Athenian
According to the 20th Century American journalist				government into an uncontrollable circus.