The way I understand it, Democracy, in its strictest sense, is a govenmental system in which the population votes directly on matters of state.
__________________ Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. –C.S. Lewis”
The way I understand it, Democracy, in its strictest sense, is a governmental system in which the population votes directly on matters of state.
Direct democracy used to only be feasible on a small scale but I wonder with the growth in communication technologies if a more direct form of democracy could work efficiently now?
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"Only love overcomes the fragmentation of human nature."
St Maximus the Confessor
"For one who loves transforms all that he loves into himself, while one who hates loses even what he has. One who loves belongs to the loved one while one who hates does not even belong to himself. "
Direct democracy used to only be feasible on a small scale but I wonder with the growth in communication technologies if a more direct form of democracy could work efficiently now?
I think it is feasible, but is it desirable?
There was a real fear of mob rule by America's founders. They need only have looked to the French Revolution to substantiate those fears.
__________________ Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. –C.S. Lewis”
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A democracy is where the people, not the government, decide what happens. Merely voting for who you want in power does not constitute ruling a country, but what you find in democracies is that popular opinion usually prevails in government policy. In short, democracy is where the government is afraid of its people, as opposed to people being afraid of their government.
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Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2
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Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.
Winston Churchill on British victory over Nazi Germany at the Battle of El Alamein, 1942
Two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner.
__________________ The precept: “Judge not, that ye be not judged” . . . is an abdication of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects for oneself. . .The moral principle to adopt in this issue, is: “Judge, and be prepared to be judged.”
-Ayn Rand
... which is why a viable democracy, (more often actually a republic or federated republic,) requires not just a constitution but an effective guarantee of minority rights.
Direct democracy used to only be feasible on a small scale but I wonder with the growth in communication technologies if a more direct form of democracy could work efficiently now?
Rousseau believed democracy could only work in small, homogenous communities. Most theorists of political philosophy agree that democracy is totally incompatible with human nature. It's always about excluding the people, whose instincts are always hostile to those of the official 'representatives' of the people.
__________________ You must take your place in the great circle of...stuff.
Last edited by marlowe007; 1st November 2009 at 01:24 PM.
A democracy is where the people, not the government, decide what happens. Merely voting for who you want in power does not constitute ruling a country, but what you find in democracies is that popular opinion usually prevails in government policy. In short, democracy is where the government is afraid of its people, as opposed to people being afraid of their government.
Why base everything on fear like this? Seems medieval to me. I'd rather hava an inclination towards what Aristotle said:
I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.
I disagree with Supreme on a fundamental level. If someone fears someone else there is a tension there which might burst. Better if there need be no reason to fear, but plenty of reason to trust. Where fear inspires withdrawal and animosity, trust inspires openness and transparency. Sure you might make the government afraid of the people. Easy enough. But what's to stop the government should it be too afraid, from lashing out. Or gradually subverting the people's power?
Is it not better to have an openness, and trust? Is it not important to have a system where the government isn't afraid of the people but consists of the people? In fact, isn't that what democracy is supposed to be about? To let the people rule as opposed to some social elite as was the case in the monarchies?
I, for one, don't want fear. I want accountability, yes. But accountability is not the same as fear.
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Originally Posted by Martin Luther King Jr.
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Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Originally Posted by Bertrand Russell
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Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim:
The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.
"no man can serve two masters; ye cannot serve both God and mammon." - Bible (Matthew 6:24)
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