Death By Democracy: John Adams Knew This Experiment Would Fail

In 1814, Adams wrote, “There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide”. Today, over 210 years later, we must admit that he was right.

Today, I’m thinking about John Adams. About his timeless and prescient warnings and his strong-willed belief that the republic he helped create would eventually destroy itself. In 1814, he wrote, “There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide”.

Today, over 210 years later, we must admit that he was right.

By popular demand, our democracy committed suicide.

‘Writing the Declaration of Independence.’ - Jean Leon Gerome Ferris.

From left to right: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson.

Adams was not prone to optimism. Nor was he inclined towards democracy. More than any of our other Founders, Adams had an affection for monarchy.

“Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as Aristocracy or Monarchy. But while it lasts it is more bloody than either.”

He believed, with the strongest of convictions, that democracy was unsustainable.

“It is in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It is not true in Fact and no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Government, and when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty. When clear Prospects are opened before Vanity, Pride, Avarice or Ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate Phylosophers and the most conscientious Moralists to resist the temptation.”

Not only was Adams correct about the all-consuming nature of pride and ambition, he also predicted the emergence of an unrestricted aristocracy, which would give way to a strongman authoritarian. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, he wrote:

“The everlasting Envys, Jealousies, Rivalries and quarrells among [aristrocrats], their cruel rapacities upon the poor ignorant People their followers, compell these to Sett up Cæsar, a Demagogue to be a Monarch and Master.”

Adams knew that an aristocracy, once entrenched, would rule for its own benefit rather than for the good of the people. His greatest fear was that America would fall into a system where a select few, by virtue of their wealth, would dictate the fate of the many. He knew that without careful checks, democracy could devolve into a contest between an elite ruling class and an exploited underclass.

And this is exactly where we have arrived.

Trump has gutted antitrust enforcement, allowing the wealthiest corporations to consolidate unchecked power. He handed public land to oil barons, ensuring that billionaire interests dictate environmental policy. He packed the courts with corporate-friendly justices, ensuring that laws favor the powerful over the people. And worst of all: He convinced millions that this is freedom.

“Power always thinks it has a great soul,” Adams wrote. “And that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all His laws.” This belief that they are acting in the service of God is what drives Trump and his oligarchs as they usher in a quasi-fascist autocracy.

With impunity, they continually desecrate this country and this planet, and then claim to be its saviors when they use their wealth to unilaterally decide how those problems get solved—if they get solved at all.

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We have arrived at exactly the moment that John Adams predicted almost 250 years ago. The question now, is: If Adams predicted this, how does he suppose we should react? How do we save our republic?

As you well know, John Adams was not above supporting a violent revolution. He wrote “Power must be opposed to power, and interest to interest.” Adams may very well instruct us to raise arms against the government; to recognize that there is a time to fight.

But Adams himself never fought in the Revolutionary War. Instead, he acted as a diplomat, negotiating peace in France and Holland. He even defended British soldiers as a lawyer, making himself very unpopular as he argued that the soldiers who murdered gun-wielding colonists were defending themselves against a "motley rabble.” He successfully secured a verdict of self-defense.

So perhaps Adams would urge against violence. I don’t know. What I do know is that Adams wouldn’t have trusted us to make the right decision anyway. He was an arrogant, intelligent, stubborn, honest, hard-working jackass, to whom we all owe an apology.

I’m sorry John. We didn’t listen.

You knew we never would.