Beyond Democracy [Kindle Edition]

The book title says it all. And the book goes on to indeed explain quite well why democracy does not lead to all those things which we all agree are good. And how in fact democracy leads to bad things. Most of us claim we want freedom, hence the slogan 'Democracy and freedom'. And yet, as this book shows, freedom and democracy are opposites. Freedom means you decide what to do with your money, your life, your property, as long as you don't infringe on another person's freedom and property. Democracy means everybody else decides over what to with your money, your life and your property. Watch your wallet while the legislature is in session! Yes, you have a vote, but one vote among millions is not much influence. And so democracy has been called that great swindle where everybody tries to be better off at the expense of all others - an anti social system if ever there was one.

Of course, I just heard somebody say the other day, as the democratic mythology goes, 'democracy is not the dictatorship of the majority'. But that is just silly newspeak. Minorities are only safe within a democracy as long as they are tolerated. The majority can and regularly does take away the rights and money of any minority, as they please. Whether that minority be business people, rich people, poor people, whatever. Democracy is majoritarian rule, but also it is a big power grab game, where sometimes you end up in the powerful majority (i.e. when you profit from some new subsidy or regulation or whatnot) and sometimes in the minority (i.e. when you pay taxes for somebody else's privilige). But the fact that in a democracy everybody has equal access to power, and that there is no clear ruling class and oppressed class, does not make it right. It only means that we all suffer the bad conseqences of democracy in turn and we would all be better off with more choices left to the individual and less choices made for us by the democratic system. And the book explains all these points quite well, with arguments, real practical examples, and hypothetical examples.

The only negative thing I can say about this book is sometimes the tone is a bit arrogant. And that may turn some readers off. But otherwise it is unique as the only concise easily readable unapologetic book against that modern God (as Hans-Hermann Hoppe calls it) democracy. Whether you agree or disagree or partically agree, this work is highly recommended. Read it and you will learn very many interesting facts and ideas about democracy, and arguments against it. You may still go to the voting booth after reading it, but it will never feel exactly right again.

'Beyond Democracy' argues that democracy is not the best (or even the least bad) of all political systems, that all the things that democracy-lovers typically (and rightly) cherish (peace, prosperity, tolerance, freedom) are actually undermined by the principles of democracy, and that there exists a superior alternative system, a free society.

While there exist several more or less dry, academic works critiquing different aspects of the democratic ideal and even a few books rejecting democracy altogether (such as Hoppe's 'Democracy, the God that Failed'), this book is something else: it's an anti-democratic pamphlet aimed at a general audience and written in an accessible, amusing and provocative style, full of stimulating arguments, apt analogies and interesting factoids.

As a popular pamphlet it is one of a kind and it makes for a perfect gift both for libertarians and for their democracy-loving friends & family. While the latter may not always agree with the book's conclusions or arguments, the book is sure to give them some food for thought and to challenge some of their most deeply held socio-political beliefs.

I bought this litte boek, because I was intrigued by the provocative sub-title ("Why democracy does not lead to solidarity, prosperity and liberty, but to social conflict, runaway spending and a tyrannical government"). There's an eyecatcher!

Of course, criticizing democracy is not necessarily revolutionary. However, most criticism to democracy is directed at less fundamental issues than the ones addressed in this book (e.g. low election turn-outs, the underrepresentation of women and/or minorities, the role of campaign funding, etc.). Still, all these analyses share the basic premisse that the ideal of democracy is a noble one and democracy needs to be improved, rather than to be abolished.

I will not waste the limited time and space I have to summarize the whole book, and restrict myself to the core message (as I perceived it to be). The authors show very convincingly that voters erroneously value the right to be part of the decision-proces. In reality, however, the chance of actually having any decisive influence (even during the whole lifespan), is close to zero. Unaware of this, people are willing to pay a big price for their 'influence' (also unaware of this price!). That is, in return for theoretically infuencing millions of others, they allow these millions of others to influence every aspect of their own lives! This latter influence, sadly, is far from theoretical. Others determine our childrens education, whether or not we need to sacrifice our lives for the sake of war, the degree of our solidarity, etc.

After reading this book, I no longer believe that democracy is the best (or the least unappealing for that matter) political system. Rather, supporting democracy seems completely illogical and undefendable to any reader with an open mind. That makes this book a revolutionary one.

I was somewhat misguided by the small amount of pages and the 'easy', accessible style. This gives the impression that the political analysis is shallow and not to be taken too seriously. However, this little book offers more insight and indepth analysis than any other book on political philosophy that I know of.

This book is a must-read and an instant classic!