What's Gone Wrong With Democracy?

[Richard]

Democracy was the most successful political idea of the 20th century. Why has it run into trouble, and what can be done to revive it?

http://www.economist.com/news/essays...what-can-be-do

And so it goes...

Richard

[Peregrino]

Dead link.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Dead link.

I just tried it and it opened for me.

Richard

[SF_BHT]

works for me also.....

[Trapper John]

Actually I found the article to be rather sophomoric. I tend to read quickly through most stuff to see if there is anything worth studying a little deeper. This piece struck me as a waste of time. In the first place, most of our Founders feared democracy as akin to mob rule. They were precisely correct in that assessment and the recent examples of attempted and fledgling democracies is testament.

The uniqueness of the US is that it is a democratically elected constitutional republic - not a democracy. I used to view the Economist as a rather scholarly and thoughtful publication. Well, not any more. Now I am suspicious that it too has become just another pseudo-intellectual rag that is a messenger of misinformation to promote a progressive agenda. The ideological undercurrents are obvious. And the sad thing is that this opinion piece will reinforce the meme among the unthinking sheeple.

Shit- I am going to devolve into a rant!

Trapper John <out>

PS: Richard - great post! I do love a good piece of HUMINT and this piece tells me a lot about the state of thought (pseudo-intellectual), messaging style, and tactics we are up against.

[craigepo]

I can save the author some time.

In order to have a perpetual democracy, citizens must understand that, with rights, come responsibilities. Picture this as a continuum. On one end, too many responsibilities without the necessary rights becomes tyranny or despotism. On the other end, all rights without any responsibilities leads to anarchy and economic collapse.

When a populace fails to understand this, but still has the ability to vote in the democratic society, the result inevitably skews toward the anarchy and economic collapse side of things. People vote to make their own lives easier and push off responsibilities to the "rich folks". The history of Argentina is a hell of a case study.

The end.

[dennisw]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Actually I found the article to be rather sophomoric. I tend to read quickly through most stuff to see if there is anything worth studying a little deeper. This piece struck me as a waste of time. In the first place, most of our Founders feared democracy as akin to mob rule. They were precisely correct in that assessment and the recent examples of attempted and fledgling democracies is testament.

The uniqueness of the US is that it is a democratically elected constitutional republic - not a democracy. I used to view the Economist as a rather scholarly and thoughtful publication. Well, not any more. Now I am suspicious that it too has become just another pseudo-intellectual rag that is a messenger of misinformation to promote a progressive agenda. The ideological undercurrents are obvious. And the sad thing is that this opinion piece will reinforce the meme among the unthinking sheeple.

Shit- I am going to devolve into a rant!

Trapper John <out>


PS: Richard - great post! I do love a good piece of HUMINT and this piece tells me a lot about the state of thought (pseudo-intellectual), messaging style, and tactics we are up against.

Some rants are worth hearing now and again.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

The uniqueness of the US is that it is a democratically elected constitutional republic -

Democratically constituted federal republic, TJ, is what we teach our students.

Richard

[Peregrino]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Actually I found the article to be rather sophomoric. I tend to read quickly through most stuff to see if there is anything worth studying a little deeper. This piece struck me as a waste of time. In the first place, most of our Founders feared democracy as akin to mob rule. They were precisely correct in that assessment and the recent examples of attempted and fledgling democracies is testament.

The uniqueness of the US is that it is a democratically elected constitutional republic - not a democracy. I used to view the Economist as a rather scholarly and thoughtful publication. Well, not any more. Now I am suspicious that it too has become just another pseudo-intellectual rag that is a messenger of misinformation to promote a progressive agenda. The ideological undercurrents are obvious. And the sad thing is that this opinion piece will reinforce the meme among the unthinking sheeple.

Shit- I am going to devolve into a rant!

Trapper John <out>

PS: Richard - great post! I do love a good piece of HUMINT and this piece tells me a lot about the state of thought (pseudo-intellectual), messaging style, and tactics we are up against.

Damn - the world as we know must be coming to an end! I agree with Trapper John. With points to Craigepo for a quality addendum. Finally got it to open on my computer. MOO - The American experiment is in serious trouble. Too many takers, not enough makers.

Robert A. Heinlein > Quotes > Quotable Quote

“The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories. A perfect democracy, a ‘warm body’ democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally, has no internal feedback for self-correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens… which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it… which for the majority translates as ‘Bread and Circuses.’

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”

― Robert A. Heinlein

I believe the last election cycle conclusively demonstrated that we've passed the tipping point. What we're experiencing now is the gradual acceleration as we slide down the slippery slope.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Trapper John

Actually I found the article to be rather sophomoric.

TJ - after a third reading of the essay, I disagree - and await a response to this essay from Professor Fukuyama.

Richard