One key
difference between a republic and a
democracy is that in a republic, a few
individuals are selected to
represent the rest of us. Why is this so
important? Is it because the
majority is
stupid? Well, I'll grant you that sometimes people act
foolishly; however, the
problem really is that the
general population, since they must
provide for their
families, have neither the
time nor the
energy to devote to
comprehending every
issue that must be decided by a
government.
This is why direct rule of the people cannot work. This is why people seem to do such stupid things (like using Microsoft products). They aren't stupid--they just don't have enough information to realize what really needs to be done.