IRVINE, CA--Nearly every politician elected on Tuesday, whether Democrat or Republican, won votes by promising to violate the rights of some Americans, said a writer at the Ayn Rand Institute.
      "Unfortunately," said Alex Epstein, "with each passing Election Day, too many voters view elections less as a means to protect freedom, and more as a means to win some government favor or handout at the expense of the liberty and property of other Americans. Our politicians promise, not to protect the basic rights spelled out in the Declaration and the Constitution, but to violate the rights of some for the benefit of others. Today's politicians want subsidies for farmers--by forcing non-farmers to pay for them; prescription drugs for the elderly--by forcing the non-elderly to pay for them; housing for the homeless--by forcing the non-homeless to pay for it."
      This destruction of individual rights, noted Epstein, is due, in part, to the propagation of the idea that America is a democracy. "Contrary to popular rhetoric, America was founded, not as a democracy, but as a constitutional republic--a political structure under which the government is limited by a written constitution to the task of protecting individual rights. 'Democracy' does not mean a system that holds public elections for government officials; it means a system in which a majority vote rules everything and everyone, and in which the individual thus has no rights." In other words, a "right" that a majority can vote away is no right. Unfortunately, our individual rights continue to disintegrate with each passing election as politicians buy votes with promises to violate the rights of some to "benefit" others. Our constitutional republic thus morphs into a form of tyranny.

ARI resident fellow Onkar Ghate is available for interviews on this topic.