Every political system has its own vital foundations - in the mental structure of the people, in their sense of justice and in their social structure. These foundations disappear - and the political system degenerates: first into its ominous caricature, and then into its direct opposite. The absence of these foundations in the life of a people means that this people is incapable of such a political system; that this state system should not be introduced at all for fear of disastrous consequences. Thus, it is absurd to propose a monarchical or aristocratic system for Switzerland or for the United States; the introduction of a republic in Germany could only end in demagogic tyranny; to overthrow the monarchy in Greece, Yugoslavia or Spain would mean putting these countries on the brink of destruction, etc. History teaches us all this at every step; but the doctrinaires do not learn from history; they themselves think to teach history, subordinating it to their theoretical inventions.
Likewise, democracy has its vital foundations - in the spirit of the people, in their sense of justice, in their social structure. Without these foundations, democracy will degenerate - either into ochlocracy (dominance of the mob), or into tyranny. What are these basics?
Democracy (in Russian - “rule of the people”) presupposes in the people the ability not only to lead public life, but precisely to rule the state.
For this, the people need, first of all, a confident and living sense of state responsibility: “the fate of my people, my state, my own, my children and grandchildren depends on what I do, how I behave and what I vote for: for all this I answer; I must do all this with honor and conscience.” This is immediately a feeling of a creative connection between oneself and the state and a sense of prestige (to God, the homeland and conscience, honor and future generations). A people deprived of a sense of responsibility is incapable of democracy: it will behave irresponsibly and ruin the whole thing. And as long as this feeling is not cultivated in him, he can only be burdened with the rule of the people blindly, out of doctrinairism and out of his own irresponsibility.
Secondly, democracy is not feasible without free loyalty and without elementary honesty. A people who have not learned to honor the law and voluntarily observe it out of conscience will not respect either their state structure or the laws they themselves have issued; every kind of crime will turn out to be the main form of his life, and a “black market” will be established in all his affairs. Not only that, this people will be incapable of either control, or court, or coercive measures, or the mobilization of their army; for at the basis of all this lies voluntary observation of the law, a sense of duty and integrity. But where laws are not respected, property laws are especially and constantly trampled upon: the boundaries between “yours and mine”, between “mine and the public”, between “mine and the government” are lost: all kinds of theft and fraud, corruption and bribery are introduced into life; people are not ashamed of criminality - and democracy becomes its own caricature. The very first war will fail him in disgrace.
Thirdly, democracy requires from the people a state-political outlook that corresponds to the size of the country and the sovereign tasks of this people. For a small, unthreatened people, a provincial political horizon is enough: a Dane can do without the horizon that an Englishman needs; a citizen of the Principality of Monaco may not see beyond his bell tower; but the American “isolationist” is a short-sighted “hillbilly”; and the Russian Kaluga resident, who rejects the fight for the sea shores on the grounds that “we, Kalutsk people, don’t need the sea,” is not capable of democracy. A people who do not understand their historical and sovereign tasks will create a pathetic caricature of democracy and destroy themselves and their culture.
Fourthly, democracy requires from the mass of the people certain knowledge and independent thinking about what is known. There is a degree of popular ignorance at which democracy can only be introduced in order to violate it. A people who know neither the history nor the geography of their country will not see themselves; and all his votes will be meaningless. The people who do not understand their economy will be deceived by the first gang of demagogues. The people, unable to independently think about their fate and their state, will cling to the false slogans suggested to them and will run after the flattering traitors. The global situation is a complex situation - diplomatically, strategically, economically, nationally, and religiously. What kind of democracy is a people capable of if they do not know anything true about other peoples, about their lives, interests, claims, plans and intentions? No way! He is politically blind and diplomatically deaf; in financial matters he is like a child; in matters of culture and science he is incompetent; in matters of strategy and war he is helpless. What does his vote weigh? A dark person's "right to vote" will always be stolen by a political swindler...
Fifthly, popular rule is feasible only where the people have inherent strength of personal character. What will he do with his “voice”? a person without self-esteem? He will sell it more profitably to the first clever buyer of votes.
What will the election campaign turn into for a people deprived of moral discipline? In pogroms, in massacres, in civil war. Masses of people who have unlearned mutual respect and trust are incapable of honest organization, collusion, or coordination of forces. A people without character will quickly disintegrate the “rule of the people” into anarchy, into a war of all against all.
Globalization on the way to world conquest
However, in addition to these spiritual foundations and conditions of democracy, there are also social foundations.
Firstly, a people who have lost their settled home, family strength and respect for work becomes groundless and politically bankrupt; he approaches the Roman plebs of the era of Caesarism. People cease to be political individuals and become dust, tragic rubbish, blown by the wind. Remember the War of the White and Scarlet Roses, re-read Shakespeare's historical dramas and do not give yourself any illusions! Anyone who does not have a settled home easily becomes a “landsknecht” looking for himself as a “condottieri”. He who does not value the traditions of his honest family and his family hearth quietly turns into an adventurer. Whoever is deprived of the meaning of work ceases to be a citizen. A people in such a state is incapable of state self-government, a corporate system, or democracy.
Secondly, a participant in the rule of people must have strong-willed independence and civic courage. It doesn't come easy. This is easiest for a person who stands on his own two feet in property: a peasant owner, people of the “middle class”, qualified personnel of the proletariat, wealthy citizens. It is in these layers that democracy has its main support. An impoverished people, descending to the state of the rabble, will quickly degenerate and destroy all democracy.
Finally, a certain historical, national and state fabric of solidarity. People must be drawn into it by work, nepotism, legal consciousness, religious feeling and patriotism. It holds together every state, especially a democratic one. Without it, without this invisible creative fusion into national unity, the corporate structure of the state becomes impracticable. Then we must seek salvation in the institutional state, which will have to slowly but persistently strengthen this fabric of solidarity and develop corporate skills, that is, democratic abilities among the masses...
This is the basis of democracy.