Book Review - Notes on Democracy by H. L. Mencken
Category Book Review H. L. Mencken Notes on Democracy
With the US coming to the end of a Presidential election cycle, I decided to accept the opportunity to read Notes on Democracy by H. L. Mencken. This was originally written in 1926 by the prominent journalist, but it's rather unnerving in its ability to hit so close to home over 80 years later. I don't necessarily buy into all of his rather dark views on the failure of democracy, but I have to agree that much of what he says does ring true.
Contents:
1 - Democratic Man: His Appearance in the World; Varieties of Homo Sapiens; The New Psychology; Politics Under Democracy; The Role of the Hormones; Envy as a Philosophy; Liberty and Democratic Man; The Effects Upon Progress; The Eternal Mob
2 - The Democratic State: The Two Kinds of Democracy; The Popular Will; Disproportional Representation; The Politician Under Democracy; Utopia; The Occasional Exception; The Maker of Laws; The Rewards of Virtue; Footnote on Lame Ducks
3 - Democracy and Liberty: The Will to Peace; The Democrat as Moralist; Where Puritanism Fails; Corruptions Under Democracy
4 - Coda: The Future of Democracy; Last Words
Annotations by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers; Afterword by Anthony Lewis
There's enough material in this rather short book to make for a multipage college paper, so it's a bit hard to condense it down to a short review. Mencken feels that democracy is really nothing more than mob rule. The uneducated masses are not looking for freedom and liberty, as those concepts are uncomfortable and laced with the very real possibility of failure. Instead, they want to be safe, well-fed, and entertained. In order to get those three items, they're willing to give up most of their civil liberties thinking that those who rule have superior power to make decisions. The mob is nearly always influenced by small vocal minorities who are able to twist and manipulate the emotions and attitudes in order to achieve their goals. He points to Prohibition as but one example of how a narrowly held belief led to a law that affected everyone and benefited no one. Politicians under a democratic system (or under *any* system, actually) are rarely, if ever, in office to selflessly serve their fellow man. Instead, they are there because it is a better job to them than what the mob offers. Their primary goal is not to make a better life for their constituents, but to make sure they retain their position and paycheck using whatever means necessary. And if that means pandering to the roar of the masses (manipulated by the vocal minority), so be it. The only positions and beliefs worth holding onto are those that will keep you in office.
It's very easy to look at this book as the Machiavelli of the democratic system. I bristle at his portrayal of all religious thought as uneducated and manipulative, but it can't be denied that some have used it for personal gain. He also doesn't offer up any real solutions to fix democracy or systems that work better. It may just turn out to be that man's basic nature is such that any form of rule will decay and be corrupted over time. The publishers who brought Notes on Democracy back into print did a nice job, especially with the annotations in the back. There are a number of references in the book that will mean little or nothing to readers of this day. The annotations help provide historical context that is necessary to understand Mencken's writing. I think I would have preferred the notes be at the bottom of the pages, however. It was a bit awkward trying to keep two places in the book marked for the constant referencing.
If you want to see past the typical political rhetoric, Notes on Democracy is a good read. You will likely object to some of his thinking and characterizations, but there's a lot of food for thought here.
With the US coming to the end of a Presidential election cycle, I decided to accept the opportunity to read Notes on Democracy by H. L. Mencken. This was originally written in 1926 by the prominent journalist, but it's rather unnerving in its ability to hit so close to home over 80 years later. I don't necessarily buy into all of his rather dark views on the failure of democracy, but I have to agree that much of what he says does ring true.
Contents:
1 - Democratic Man: His Appearance in the World; Varieties of Homo Sapiens; The New Psychology; Politics Under Democracy; The Role of the Hormones; Envy as a Philosophy; Liberty and Democratic Man; The Effects Upon Progress; The Eternal Mob
2 - The Democratic State: The Two Kinds of Democracy; The Popular Will; Disproportional Representation; The Politician Under Democracy; Utopia; The Occasional Exception; The Maker of Laws; The Rewards of Virtue; Footnote on Lame Ducks
3 - Democracy and Liberty: The Will to Peace; The Democrat as Moralist; Where Puritanism Fails; Corruptions Under Democracy
4 - Coda: The Future of Democracy; Last Words
Annotations by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers; Afterword by Anthony Lewis
There's enough material in this rather short book to make for a multipage college paper, so it's a bit hard to condense it down to a short review. Mencken feels that democracy is really nothing more than mob rule. The uneducated masses are not looking for freedom and liberty, as those concepts are uncomfortable and laced with the very real possibility of failure. Instead, they want to be safe, well-fed, and entertained. In order to get those three items, they're willing to give up most of their civil liberties thinking that those who rule have superior power to make decisions. The mob is nearly always influenced by small vocal minorities who are able to twist and manipulate the emotions and attitudes in order to achieve their goals. He points to Prohibition as but one example of how a narrowly held belief led to a law that affected everyone and benefited no one. Politicians under a democratic system (or under *any* system, actually) are rarely, if ever, in office to selflessly serve their fellow man. Instead, they are there because it is a better job to them than what the mob offers. Their primary goal is not to make a better life for their constituents, but to make sure they retain their position and paycheck using whatever means necessary. And if that means pandering to the roar of the masses (manipulated by the vocal minority), so be it. The only positions and beliefs worth holding onto are those that will keep you in office.
It's very easy to look at this book as the Machiavelli of the democratic system. I bristle at his portrayal of all religious thought as uneducated and manipulative, but it can't be denied that some have used it for personal gain. He also doesn't offer up any real solutions to fix democracy or systems that work better. It may just turn out to be that man's basic nature is such that any form of rule will decay and be corrupted over time. The publishers who brought Notes on Democracy back into print did a nice job, especially with the annotations in the back. There are a number of references in the book that will mean little or nothing to readers of this day. The annotations help provide historical context that is necessary to understand Mencken's writing. I think I would have preferred the notes be at the bottom of the pages, however. It was a bit awkward trying to keep two places in the book marked for the constant referencing.
If you want to see past the typical political rhetoric, Notes on Democracy is a good read. You will likely object to some of his thinking and characterizations, but there's a lot of food for thought here.
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