US Election 2020

[Sean Hayden]

--sounds like a research project Nine. Report back here when you know.

[NineBerry]

Ich habe besseres zu tun

[Sean Hayden]

That's alright, if it's a question 'bout 'merica, Europeans just instinctively know what the problem is. Someone will be along shortly to demonstrate.

[NineBerry]

My theory is that Americans go around telling everyone that government doing stuff is necessarily expensive, inefficient, ineffective and bureaucratic so much that government workers started to believe that themselves.

[NineBerry]

[Brian Peacock]

That's alright, if it's a question 'bout 'merica, Europeans just instinctively know what the problem is. Someone will be along shortly to demonstrate.

Because Jesus, guns, and babies of course!

[Sean Hayden]

[Sean Hayden]

[JimC]

Besides, democracy is stupid. It won't be the last word on better governments.

Its current formats, certainly. But the somewhat vague principle that the people in a community need as much say as is practically possible in how their community is run remains vital, surely...

Of course, the devil is in the details...

[Seabass]

Besides, democracy is stupid.

No it isn't. The US version certainly is.

[Sean Hayden]

Besides, democracy is stupid. It won't be the last word on better governments.

Its current formats, certainly. But the somewhat vague principle that the people in a community need as much say as is practically possible in how their community is run remains vital, surely...

Of course, the devil is in the details...

No. It's not vital. Establishing rights and safety is vital.

That Tom, who works as a help desk technician believes the stop sign at the end of his street is poorly placed, is irrelevant. Tom doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. The situation is only worse when we give Tom a say in matters of even greater importance. But that's precisely what proponents of democracy argue for, giving Tom a say in things he's not equipped to deal with.

[Hermit]

Besides, democracy is stupid. It won't be the last word on better governments.

Its current formats, certainly. But the somewhat vague principle that the people in a community need as much say as is practically possible in how their community is run remains vital, surely...

Of course, the devil is in the details...

No. It's not vital. Establishing rights and safety is vital.

That Tom, who works as a help desk technician believes the stop sign at the end of his street is poorly placed, is irrelevant. Tom doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. The situation is only worse when we give Tom a say in matters of even greater importance. But that's precisely what proponents of democracy argue for, giving Tom a say in things he's not equipped to deal with.

"democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time"

[pErvinalia]

Besides, democracy is stupid. It won't be the last word on better governments.

Its current formats, certainly. But the somewhat vague principle that the people in a community need as much say as is practically possible in how their community is run remains vital, surely...

Of course, the devil is in the details...

No. It's not vital. Establishing rights and safety is vital.

That Tom, who works as a help desk technician believes the stop sign at the end of his street is poorly placed, is irrelevant. Tom doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. The situation is only worse when we give Tom a say in matters of even greater importance. But that's precisely what proponents of democracy argue for, giving Tom a say in things he's not equipped to deal with.

This is an argument for better education, not less democracy.

[Sean Hayden]

This is an argument for better education, not less democracy.

I don't think it is. In fact, part of the problem with democracy may be that it can contribute to an unhealthy denial of reality.

[JimC]

This is an argument for better education, not less democracy.

I don't think it is. In fact, part of the problem with democracy may be that it can contribute to an unhealthy denial of our limits.

When you start to argue that some part of the population is, for whatever reason, not competent to have a say in the affairs of their own community, it becomes a slippery slope of dangerous proportions. Who decides whether citizen X has less rights in decision making than citizen Y?

So rEv's counter is valid, at least in theory. In the meantime, it's better to err on the side of more inclusive participation in decision making than the reverse, even with a certain level of community stupidity. The alternative is the rise of self-serving elites...