Friday, June 09, 2006
You gotta have faith
Why do people put so much value in democracy?
As if tyranny by majority is somehow justified.
It seems to almost be consensus that a democracy is the "winner" in governmental establishments. Why? When you listen to movies, songs, the media, and politicians, you would think that democracy will save us all. Not only do I think its benefits are over exaggerated, but I don't see how it can produce optimal results beyond any other coercive establishment. Is there anything better?
Even voluntary governmental establishments, have there own problems.
If there must be a government, I think I would ‘vote’ for something like a constitutional republic, where the laws are derived more from competitive courts than legislators. If courts actually tend towards the most wealth maximizing decision, then there might be something very good about this. Additionally, I would prefer there be multiple court systems, allowing for greater wealth in common law.
What would you 'vote' for?
As if tyranny by majority is somehow justified.
It seems to almost be consensus that a democracy is the "winner" in governmental establishments. Why? When you listen to movies, songs, the media, and politicians, you would think that democracy will save us all. Not only do I think its benefits are over exaggerated, but I don't see how it can produce optimal results beyond any other coercive establishment. Is there anything better?
Even voluntary governmental establishments, have there own problems.
If there must be a government, I think I would ‘vote’ for something like a constitutional republic, where the laws are derived more from competitive courts than legislators. If courts actually tend towards the most wealth maximizing decision, then there might be something very good about this. Additionally, I would prefer there be multiple court systems, allowing for greater wealth in common law.
What would you 'vote' for?
Comments:
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Well I don't think you're giving supporters of "democracy" enough credit.
You're right that you do hear a lot of talk about democracy, but ussually in a particular context. For example you hear a lot of people, from radio commentators to politicans, talk about "democracy" in America. But is the government of the United States an actual pure democracy like the one you're talking about? No. So, these people must either not know what they are talking about or they mean something different by the term.
I ussually interprut these statements to mean a form of government like the one in the US, a representative democracy accompanied by a constitution that garuntees certain rights for all its citizens that the majority can over-rule.
Like all language, this word can only be truly understood in its context. I remember a few years ago when Bill Clinton was leaving office he was at a dinner with former-pres GHW Bush. And like anytime a politican gets in front of a crowd, they gave speeches.
In Clinton's speech he talked about how well out our "democratic government" worked. In Bush's speech, he talked about our great Republican form of government.
Were these two men talking about different things? Did Clinton get all the way to the White House not knowing our government isn't purely democratic?
I doubt it. In this case, I'm sure the difference in word choice revealed more about their differing rhetorical styles than underlying philosophical differences.
And 9 times out of 10 I would bet that is exactly what's going on when you hear "democracy" used with regards to someone's conception of an ideal government.
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You're right that you do hear a lot of talk about democracy, but ussually in a particular context. For example you hear a lot of people, from radio commentators to politicans, talk about "democracy" in America. But is the government of the United States an actual pure democracy like the one you're talking about? No. So, these people must either not know what they are talking about or they mean something different by the term.
I ussually interprut these statements to mean a form of government like the one in the US, a representative democracy accompanied by a constitution that garuntees certain rights for all its citizens that the majority can over-rule.
Like all language, this word can only be truly understood in its context. I remember a few years ago when Bill Clinton was leaving office he was at a dinner with former-pres GHW Bush. And like anytime a politican gets in front of a crowd, they gave speeches.
In Clinton's speech he talked about how well out our "democratic government" worked. In Bush's speech, he talked about our great Republican form of government.
Were these two men talking about different things? Did Clinton get all the way to the White House not knowing our government isn't purely democratic?
I doubt it. In this case, I'm sure the difference in word choice revealed more about their differing rhetorical styles than underlying philosophical differences.
And 9 times out of 10 I would bet that is exactly what's going on when you hear "democracy" used with regards to someone's conception of an ideal government.
# posted by 
: 1:19 PM
: 1:19 PM << Home
