15 more seconds of fame

The letter below will likely be printed in the Denver Post next Sunday in response to "Is our democracy up to the task?" by Dick and Dottie Lamm.

Dick and Dottie Lamm's column "Is our democracy up to the task?" reminds me of a quote by Ben Franklin. When asked what kind of government we would have, he replied "A republic, if you can keep it." The difference between republics and democracies is simple. Republics vote only on matters that are properly in the public domain. Democracies vote on anything they want to. That's why democracies don't last. They collapse in orgies of feeding at the public trough. So decisions like where to invest your retirement money (social security), who you can marry, how to manage your land, how to educate your children, and what medicines you can use, are private decisions that should not be subject to a public vote. But today we vote on these private decisions, so we're going to hell, in style. What's next? Voting on what's for dinner?