# Why is democracy bad?

**URL:** <https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700>\
**Category:** The water cooler\
**Created:** [November 2, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700 "2026-11-02T11:43:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Wintermute](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/user_avatar/discourse.thelastforum.com/wintermute/32/35_2.png) [@Wintermute](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/Wintermute)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/41 "2026-11-02T22:12:45Z")

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> [@kcflyer](#):
>
> A work of fiction. Are you a Scientologist?

And what is wrong with a book of fiction written as a thesis? If it’s good enough for the military. It’s good enough for me

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**Author:** ![Rasputin](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/user_avatar/discourse.thelastforum.com/rasputin/32/8689_2.png) [@Rasputin](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/Rasputin)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/42 "2026-11-02T22:35:14Z")

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Here are a few things that the founding fathers believed in that are not acceptable today per Gemini:

" While the Founding Fathers laid the ideological groundwork for modern American democracy, the 18th-century world they lived in was vastly different from today. Over the centuries, social norms, civil rights, and constitutional interpretations have evolved significantly.

Several prominent beliefs and practices widely accepted among the Founding Fathers are largely rejected today:

### 1. Limited Political Franchise (Restricted Suffrage)

- **The Founders’ Belief:** Most founders believed that voting rights should be restricted to property-owning or tax-paying white men. Many feared that extending the vote to the “common man” without property stakes would lead to instability or demagoguery. For example, in the forum discussion you are viewing on [The Last Forum](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/14), participants touch on historical voting restrictions, with one user noting a Founding-era view that only property owners and taxpayers should participate.

- **Today’s Standard:** Universal adult suffrage is a cornerstone of modern democracy. The 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments expanded voting rights regardless of race, sex, or age (18 and older), rejecting the idea that property ownership or economic status should determine political participation.

### 2. The Acceptance and Legalization of Chattel Slavery

- **The Founders’ Belief:** Even among founders who privately expressed moral qualms about slavery (such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington), the institution was legally and economically woven into the fabric of the colonies and the early republic. Many accepted or defended it as a necessary compromise to unify the Southern states during the creation of the Constitution.

- **Today’s Standard:** Chattel slavery is universally recognized as a profound moral evil, a violation of fundamental human rights, and is explicitly prohibited by the 13th Amendment.

### 3. The Subjugation and Displacement of Indigenous Peoples

- **The Founders’ Belief:** The founders generally viewed Native American tribes through a lens of European sovereignty and expansionism. They viewed Indigenous nations as either obstacles to westward settlement or peoples to be assimilated, often treating land acquisitions through unequal treaties or conquest rather than recognizing full sovereign equality.

- **Today’s Standard:** Modern international and domestic law recognizes indigenous sovereignty, tribal self-determination, and the historical injustices of forced displacement and broken treaties.

### 4. Paternalistic Views on Women’s Rights

- **The Founders’ Belief:** Under the legal doctrine of _coverture_ inherited from English common law, a married woman’s legal rights were subsumed by those of her husband; she could not own property independently, sign contracts, or vote. Women were largely viewed as occupying a “private sphere” focused on domesticity and the moral rearing of children, rather than public or political life.

- **Today’s Standard:** Women possess full legal, economic, and political equality under the law, with equal rights to property, education, employment, and political office.

### 5. Government-Sanctioned Religious Establishments and Tests

- **The Founders’ Belief:** While the First Amendment ultimately established the separation of church and state at the federal level, several original states maintained officially established state churches (such as the Congregational Church in Massachusetts or the Church of England in Virginia) well into the 19th century. Additionally, many states initially required religious test oaths (requiring officeholders to swear belief in specific Protestant or Christian doctrines).

- **Today’s Standard:** The Establishment Clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to strictly prohibit state-sponsored religion at both the federal and state levels, and Article VI of the Constitution explicitly bans religious tests for holding public office."

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**Author:** ![H200h](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@H200h](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/H200h)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/43 "2026-11-02T23:13:49Z")

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Uh-oh… I think this thread is headed for one of those Constitutional “as written” vs “original intent” vs “textualism” vs “structuralism” argument/discussions. 🙂

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**Author:** ![crparrothead](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/user_avatar/discourse.thelastforum.com/crparrothead/32/6648_2.png) [@crparrothead](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/crparrothead)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/44 "2026-11-02T23:23:33Z")

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> [@Rasputin](#):
>
> are a few things that the founding fathers believed in that are not acceptable today per Gemini

Good thing they had the foresight to put in a mechanism to change the Constitution

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**Author:** ![kcflyer](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/user_avatar/discourse.thelastforum.com/kcflyer/32/5299_2.png) [@kcflyer](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/kcflyer)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/45 "2026-11-02T23:27:04Z")

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> [@crparrothead](#):
>
> Good thing they had the foresight to put in a mechanism to change the Constitution

True, but unlike days past, when it was possible to “meet in the middle” and actually change the constitution, I don’t think that if my 9 year old grandson lives to see 90 that we will ever reach a point where the constitution will ever be changed again.

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**Author:** ![BridgeMaven](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@BridgeMaven](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/u/BridgeMaven)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://discourse.thelastforum.com/t/why-is-democracy-bad/110700/46 "2026-11-03T02:15:45Z")

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this is a major problem. The Democrat party has been hijacked by communism, which makes it impossible for them to make decisions and well as best for our country. I don’t know how this problem can be resolved because it keeps getting worse.

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