In the just published issue of Regulation (Winter 2024-2025), I consider HL Mencken’s maxim.
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and have the right to make it work.”
My short story points out one problem with taking this maxim literally.
Ordinary people know what they want. It is about improving the conditions of life according to one’s own preferences. And he was also very successful in his personal life, and once he became free as an individual, he and his allies sparked an industrial revolution and created what economist Deirdre McCloskey called “the millionaires.” …
When ordinary people are given the power to decide what their fellow humans should want, things can go very wrong. …When the public elects strong leaders, or aspiring leaders, Mencken’s maxim appears to be in full force.
After some explanations that may be of interest to the reader, I conclude with a more precise, but less dry, reformulation of Mencken’s maxim.
Illiberal democracy (as we know it) is one in which the majority of voters know what they want and think everyone has the right to get away with it. This is the theory.
I conclude this article with the hope that the current political situation in the United States “will serve as a bitter lesson for a better future.”
He got what he wanted well and hard.
