Democrats insist Republicans are a “threat to democracy.” Naturally, the media never asks them to define democracy. Emily Finley, however, has a Wall Street Journal essay explaining that the left embraces “democratism.” This means “elites” use their “wisdom” to make life better for the little people. I call it “in loco parentis” politics, with loco having its slang rather than its Latin meaning.

Finley’s essay argues that modern “democracy” bears no relationship to the demos or people, whether through direct or representative democracy. Instead, she says, we have elitist “democratism” that purports to speak for the people without having any liking or respect for them:

It is an imaginative and idealistic understanding of popular rule that disdains ordinary people and looks to a cadre of so-called experts to operate the levers of power. Under this ideology, “democracy” and “the people” are rhetorical cover for the will of the elites.

[snip]

Jean-Jacques Rousseau applied this idea in “The Social Contract.” The general will, Rousseau says, is what the popular will ought to be, even if it isn’t expressed by actual living people. The general will conveniently requires the translation of a wise legislator for its instantiation.

Many of the most vocal champions of democracy, from Thomas Jefferson to our own day, have been advocates of this Rousseauean inversion, using the word “democracy” as justification for what would otherwise be naked authoritarianism.

That explains how our “elites” insist that Americans should look to the World Economic Forum, a collection of rich, tyrannical wackos who imagine that they will control our lives so exquisitely that we’ll “have nothing and like it.” Progressivism, starting with the execrable Woodrow Wilson, has always operated under the theory that leftist solons will make life better for “the people.”

Image: A crazy person (edited) by luis-molinero; suspicious child (edited) by fabrikasimf; park (edited) by tirachard.

Looking at today’s American leftists, I realized that the Progressive dream is best understood through the phrase “in loco parentis.” That dry and ancient legal phrase refers to someone acting in place of (in the location of) the parent. When an adult legally takes charge of a child (e.g., a teacher during the school day or a foster parent), we say that person is acting “in loco parentis.”

Democrats, however, have put a new spin on the word “loco.” They’re not referring to someone acting responsibly for another. To understand them, you need to know that the word “loco” has taken on its slang meaning: crazy. Democrats are the crazy parents.

Responsible parents gently correct a child who announces that he or she is a member of the opposite sex and help that child come to terms with reality. The crazy parents give the child toxic drugs and mutilating surgery and, if they’re the freaky California family down the block, they invite in all the confused kids in the neighborhood, promising surgery and drugs for free.

Responsible parents make sure that they know who is entering their home, so their family isn’t at risk. It helps to lock the doors and check through the peephole before answering. The crazy family in the neighborhood sets up tents all over the sidewalk and says that everyone is allowed into the neighborhood—and they insist that their kids consort with the new neighbor who coughs up blood and has gross scabs. They’ll also pick your locks if you’re not looking.

Responsible parents help their kids understand that substance abuse is dangerous. The crazy parent down the street parties with his kids and everyone else’s, making sure they have an endless supply of alcohol and drugs. (It really helps that the people in new “neighbors” in the tents are augmenting that supply.)

Responsible parents teach their kids how to manage a budget. The crazy parents spend every penny they have. Then, they go around the neighborhood forcing everyone else to pitch in. And they invariably come up with wild new spending plans.

Responsible parents teach their kids to be ambitious and show them how to succeed through hard work. The loco parents let their kids do anything they want and then, when the kids fail, explain that it’s everyone else’s fault. After that, they tell their kids to attack all the ones who are really to blame.

Responsible parents understand that children need to stand on their own and be their own people. They’ll provide guidance and help them in times of real need, but they let the kids develop their own abilities. The crazy parents are the ultimate helicoptering micromanagers, controlling everything their kids do, fighting their battles, and denying them any liberty other than sex and drugs, all to be done under the crazy parents’ aegis.

It’s time for America to declare independence from the Democrats’ parenting style. The adults of this land don’t need the crazed micromanagement they offer. We can and should have the freedom to handle ourselves, asking only that our government responsibly keep our country safe and stop spending money like crazy.