In God We Trust, Not the Government by Wade Burleson

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America universally rejected democracy and hoped that future generations would never turn the United States into one. The word "Republic" was intentionally chosen to describe the United States:

"I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands..."

The United States was to be ruled by law. The Founding Fathers feared democracy because of a "share the wealth" mob mentality that eventually becomes the downfall of all democracies. Those who "have not" will eventually elect those politicians who promise them the most from the public treasury.

The wealthy are then forced to give "their fair share" (i.e. "taxed") in order give "something for nothing" to the receivers. Soon, a spirit of entitlement permeates the culture, and the public treasury will eventually go bankrupt attempting to fulfill the promises of elected politicians. The Founding Fathers knew that a democracy could not exist as a permanent form of government. They feared it.

Alexander Fraser Tytler wrote more than two centuries ago the reasons democracies fail:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

James Madison, a Founding Father, wrote just as eloquently in the Federalist Papers, No. 10:

“Hence it is that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths … A republic, by which I mean a government in which a scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

Our country has transformed from a Republic in its early days to a democracy in these latter days. It's possibly too late to hit the reset button, but in the end, failed governments are not necessarily a bad thing. "In God we trust," not our government.