L Neil Smith has it right.

True democracy is founded upon the belief that two people have the right to tell a third person what to do - by way of votes. And further, that the hidden message is that if the third person doesn't acquiesce quietly, the first two can always resort to violence to force compliance.

So how is that 'freedom'? Think about it for a minute.

How is being forced to do something you don't want to, or to NOT do something that gives you pleasure, equate to you, an individual, being free? Let's set aside for the moment any discussion of imprisonment, restitution or other punishment for the real, basic, crimes such as rape, murder, theft, assault and child molestation. How does preventing a person from smoking, or talking on the cell while driving, make one 'freer'? Furthermore, how does forcing one to buy health insurance, or automotive insurance or even homeowner's or flood insurance increase an individual's freedom?

It doesn't.

And it's not just all these major laws, we're also faced with masses of punitive regulations and even neighborhood covenants which all restrict our personal freedom of choice and action for no good reason. (So who cares if old Mr. Pebblebottom down the street decides to hem his home with a privacy hedge? Or that the Dalton's prefer their home be hot pink with purple trim? It's THEIR property!)

Maybe it's time to rethink whether democracy is any better than communism/socialism or totalitarianism, or even feudalism.