We Endanger Liberty

We Endanger Liberty

by Mark Luedtke

Democracy is no friend to liberty. Despite the way we throw around the word 'democracy' today, a true democracy is arguably the most dangerous form of government ever devised. America's Founding Fathers knew the dangers of democracy well; the tyranny of the majority is backed by the inherent power of the people and under the guise of populism, it can steal economic and political freedom from the minority. We're each a minority of one, and every individual in a democracy is subject to the tyranny of the rest.

But despite the Framers' efforts, creating a Constitutional Republic with restricted powers for government, the majority in America can still force tyranny on minorities, especially at the local level. The only thing protecting freedom from us is our self-control, but our self-control is failing.

For example, Yellow Springs is considering annexing a contiguous section of land called Fogg Farm to enable growth. In traditional American fashion, citizens of Yellow Springs and their Village Council debated the issue. The people expressed a variety of opinions. The council listened and presented data to the people for further discussion. This is the great American political process in action, and it should result in Village Council making a decision in the best interests of the community at large.

But activists are already calling for a referendum. It's hard to argue with the idea that the people should vote on major decisions affecting the community, and that's why a tyranny of the majority is so dangerous. The individuals who make up the majority always have personal reasons for their positions, more-so than the elected council entrusted with the good of the community.

Real estate in Yellow Springs is unusually high priced for this area. The Yellow Springs newspaper and website claim that's because there's high demand to move to Yellow Springs, but demand is always relative to supply, and that claim hides the real story. Real estate is high because the the community hasn't allowed any new development in decades. Real estate prices have been made artificially high because the people of Yellow Springs have unnaturally restricted the supply of housing by deliberately stunting the community's growth.

Years of policy stunting growth artificially inflated property values. Worse, if the old adage that a community that isn't growing is dying is true, then Yellow Springs is committing suicide. Village Council doesn't want that beautiful, unique downtown strangled by its own people. But any new development would undermine the artificially inflated property values that decades of no growth policy created. It's hard to imagine anybody would buy one of the tiny, old existing homes in Yellow Springs if they could buy a nicer, new home at Fogg Farm, cheaper.

Worse for Yellow Springs, the Fogg Farm developer can still develop the property even if Yellow Springs votes not to annex it. It's possible that Yellow Springs will have no say in the development and be stuck picking up part of the tab for services for the development even if they don't annex it. But the developer's options are limited if Yellow Springs doesn't annex, so annexing is a win-win for both the developer and the community. Yellow Springs would thrive as a result of the new development, and property values would return over time. But a tyranny of the majority could derail the plans.

Annexing Fogg Farm is a no-brainer, but it's hard to imagine Yellow Springs home owners voting to undermine their property values, so Village Council will likely end up at odds with home owners. The result of a referendum will be no growth because of restricted economic freedom and continuing slow suicide for the community.

A tyranny of the majority against Jessica Minesinger of Troy turned ugly. Years ago, the Troy city council approved her Summerfield development, but Troy activists managed to get the zoning issue for Summerfield on the ballot in a referendum. Troy voters voted down the zoning for her development. This ever more acrimonious battle has been going on for years, with Troy's city council approving the zoning change, activists putting it on the ballot, and the majority of Troy voters stopping the development.

This battle expanded into the courts, with each side suing the other. The activists paid fines instead of answering the subpoenas, but Jessica Minesinger is still unable to develop the property, even though she did the hard work to get City Council approval.

Thanks to the growing nanny society and the subsequent change in attitude from self-reliance and self-determination to government domination of our lives, voters have increasingly forgone self-control to force their will on minorities. Both parties are destroying liberty in America, blessed by our votes. We've lost our regard for freedom and desire to exercise vigilance in support of liberty.

The new smoking ban in Ohio, forced on private business owners by a meddling majority of Ohio voters, is an egregious attack on freedom. The self-righteous majority that passed the Constitutional amendment granting government the power to direct private businesses owners in their operations opened the door to a new extreme of government control over private property rights. It turns out that we and our neighbors, wielding democracy like a blunt instrument, are more dangerous enemies of liberty than any overt enemy.