Democracy is the theory that people know what they want

[Rizzo in a box]

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard

-H.L. Mencken

Thoughts?

:troll:

[Infinityshock]

Thats the problem...the common people tend to be stupid and what they want tends to be just as stupid.  Ergo...modern politics

[LiquidIce]

David Brin, the author of The Postman (good post-apocalyptic book) writes about this cliche that everyone in society is stupid here: http://www.davidbrin.com/idiotplot.html

I sort of agree with him. People aren't stupid. Now ignorance.. that's another matter. Whenever I see people doing something I think is stupid, I try to analyze the situation from their point of view and I've come to the conclusion that the great majority of people are acting without enough information. They can't make good decisions without enough information. They have been taught to act this way, I believe, by the school system. People, if you explain things to them, will generally pick up on ideas rather quickly.

And so I have pretty much repeated OPs words using more words  . Fuck being tired.

[astudioapartment]

democracy is how you trick people into believing they have a say in who runs their country. Makes it a little harder to cling to power but its based on the theory of absolute power corrupting absolutely too

[Lord hang man]

Well USA is bna if that helps.

[Ninja]

When you vote, you are only consenting to your own enslavement.

[FON]

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard

-H.L. Mencken

Thoughts?

:troll:

You could say a representative democracy is about politicians knowing what the common people want, but either way they apparently deserve to get it good and hard.

[mojo4567]

When you vote, you are only consenting to your own enslavement.

Yah but I like voting a hell lot more than being ruled under a monarch or something

[Lord hang man]

History is a good place to look for the successes of democracy. Pretty much no nuke and no BNA war = good.

[Arnox]

I think Winston Churchill said something to this effect.

"Democracy's bad, but everything else is even worse."

A sentiment I agree with mostly.

EDIT: Yep, Winston Churchill.

No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

[Ninja]

When you vote, you are only consenting to your own enslavement.

Yah but I like voting a hell lot more than being ruled under a monarch or something

There is really no difference between the two.  You just like the illusion of freedom.

[Rizzo in a box]

I think Winston Churchill said something to this effect.

"Democracy's bad, but everything else is even worse."

A sentiment I agree with mostly.

EDIT: Yep, Winston Churchill.

No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Well it sounds like its high time we try out some new types of government which will invariably the worst form of government except for all those before it. 

[Slave of the Beast]

Democracy in my contrary is riddled with career politicians spouting populist bullshit to the masses with whom they have no real connection. One of the major problems is the way the system is funded; by private donations. Democracy is a slave to party donors; the rich fund the Conservatives (the Bullingdon Club) and the Unions fund the champagne socialists Labour Party. Each group peddles the ideology supported by its financial backers rather than what is necessarily good for society as a whole.

Still, I'd rather the Bullingdon Club were in charge rather than the feckless Labour tits with their chronic 'tax n' spend 'till we're broke again' ethos.

[LiquidIce]

I think Winston Churchill said something to this effect.

"Democracy's bad, but everything else is even worse."

A sentiment I agree with mostly.

EDIT: Yep, Winston Churchill.

No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Well it sounds like its high time we try out some new types of government which will invariably the worst form of government except for all those before it. 

What do you suggest?

I'll add that it seems that the world has fallen into some sort of complacency on this front. If you read a book on urban economics, you'll find that during the 19th century everyone in Europe with a utopia in mind would migrate to the US (because Europe didnt have enough freedoms) and start their little utopia-like city (because a full country utopia would take too much resources). All of those crashed a burned of course, but I think it was good for research and progress into how we govern ourselves. It seems these efforts have been extinguished though, so we're stuck with what we've had for the past 50 years, minus communism to some extent.

[John Smith]

You should read this book:



I'm currently reading "The Problem With Political Authority". Excellent analysis.

Market failure is often mentioned, but have you ever heard the term democratic failure? The majority of people don't seem to have considered the possibility that there may flaws, negative outcomes, that are inherent to democracy and the state.