In a democracy voters and politicians conspire through the political process to demand public services, meaning there is a political imperative (rather that an economic justification) to keep funding them. Keeping this aggregate demand in check becomes the prime function of government, and it doesn’t matter much where the money is spent, because it’s all, or mostly all, wasteful.

Rather than an economic statement about how the government provides useful public goods, where the market cannot provide or cannot do so efficiently, the budget has become a political statement, about providing public funding for a population’s unreasonable demands for spending on health, education and other wasteful services. The ideal is to spend just enough on these services to keep at least 51% of voters on side.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.” Democracy evolves into kleptocracy. A majority bullying a minority is just as bad as a dictator, communist or otherwise, doing so. Democracy is two coyotes and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.

Solution for Democracy
The key is a constitution, like the United States ONCE HAD , that draws a firm line between the public and private sectors, and between democracy and freedom. More importantly, the role of a proper constitution is to protect freedom from democracy and the individual from the majority.

tasman1 wrote: A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.” Democracy evolves into kleptocracy. A majority bullying a minority is just as bad as a dictator, communist or otherwise, doing so. Democracy is two coyotes and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.

Here in America.

A democracy is two wolves and lamb voting on what to have for dinner, with the well armed lamb defending
it's vote.