 And again, we see a majority of Americans who disagree, and so when you are not with where majority of Americans are, then, you know, that is extreme. That is an extreme way of thinking. Hello, everyone. Dylan Schumacher, Citadel Defense. You hear this all the time in our current culture and probably have to some degree another for about the past 100 years. You know, we need to protect our democracy or save our democracy or we live in a democracy or any of these terms, right? The idea being that America is a democracy and that we need to spread democracy throughout the world, which I think started with Woodrow Wilson right before World War One, and this idea that America needs to be the preserver and expander of democracy throughout the world, and liberty throughout the world, and it's really where kind of nation building starts and this whole idea of policing the world, and that's a whole other shtick. But that's kind of where that idea originates from. As far as I know, if I'm incorrect, go ahead and correct me in the comments, but I'm pretty sure that's where it goes back to is Woodrow Wilson's speech right before we declare war on Germany during World War One. So you hear this idea all the time that we have to protect and preserve democracy. Well, the truth is America is not and never has been a democracy. We never have been. A democracy, we should have learned this in eighth or ninth grade civics, is when everyone votes on every issue. That's what a democracy is. So should we raise taxes? Well, we get everyone together and then we vote on it. Yes or no? Should we go to war? We get everyone together and then we vote on it. Should we regulate this company to do this thing? Well, we get everyone together and then we vote on it. That is what democracy is. We get everyone together to vote on every issue and majority rules. Boom, that's it. We voted, the majority decided X, and so that's what we're doing. That's what a democracy is. There are, perhaps you can see already, a couple problems with that. The founding fathers were very, very wary of democracy and with good reason. In a democracy, anyone who can speak powerfully or whip people into an emotional fervor to vote a certain way can rule in some degree or another. That's where we get the term tyranny of the majority, right? Because whatever the majority wants, they can vote for and then that's it. They run the show because they have 51% of the votes or at least 50.1% of the votes and so therefore they can do whatever they want. The founding fathers rightly understood that democracy is another form of tyranny and that it's not a good way to be ruled. We need to stop saying, if you say, oh, you know, we're a democracy, stop saying that. That's not a thing. That's not true. And you need to stop hearing it. And what I mean by that is when someone says that to you, you need to correct them like, excuse me, I don't mean to be pedantic, but it's a very significant point. We're actually not a democracy. The United States of America isn't a democracy. And if they say, wow, what does that mean? We vote, of course, for a democracy. Say, no, the United States of America is a constitutional republic. And there's a significant difference because we have a republic, which means we elect people to make decisions for us. That's what a republic is. Much like the Roman Republic, right? They had a Senate. Those people were elected fraudulently or not. They were elected. And then they lived and served in the Senate. And then in the Senate, they decided and made decisions, right? So the United States government is a constitutional republic. We elect representatives to make choices for us. And they are restrained by the Constitution. That's how it's supposed to work. Now, you know, we can go on and on about how that's not how it works currently and their issues. And we can talk about that. But when people say, oh, we're a democracy, that's not true. And it's dangerous because what it trains people to think is, oh, we're a democracy. Well, we voted on this and the majority voted. So that's it. There's no, there's doesn't matter what you want or care about, or what your rights are. What matters is that we voted. That's the sacred act of the governing. And that's, it's not true. So I put this out here because again, you hear this a lot and you need to understand what it is you're hearing. And what you're hearing is a lie because democracy is a terrible way to be governed and is not one under which you would want to live, especially if you don't agree with whatever the majority opinion happens to be. Do brave deeds and endure.