美国开国元勋其实对民主制的弊端看的很透彻，像John Adams在1814年就提过“我并不是说民主从总体上和长远来看比君主制或贵族制更有害。民主从来没有、也不可能像贵族制或君主制那样持久；但民主一旦存在，就会比这两者更血腥……请记住，民主从不会长久。它很快就会自我浪费、自我消耗、自我毁灭。从来没有一个民主制度不自杀。说民主比贵族制或君主制更少虚荣、更少骄傲、更少自私、更少野心或更少贪婪是徒劳的。事实上，这不是事实，历史上从未出现过这种情况。在所有形式的简单政府下，所有人的这些激情都是一样的，如果不加以制止，就会产生同样的欺诈、暴力和残酷的后果。当虚荣、骄傲、贪婪或野心面前展现出清晰的前景时，即使是最体贴的哲学家和最有责任心的道德家也难以抵挡这种诱惑。个人已经征服了自己。国家和大批人却永远无法做到。”

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原文：I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. … Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. 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 nowhere 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 philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.

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