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“This house believes that democracy is undesirable for a good society”
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
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I pity the green one...
Simple (monocrat style) answer:
Democracy doesn't mean that we are able to choose what is good for us, but that a majority can.
It is justifiable for different reasons, but not the common good
But democracy is simply the tyranny of the majority. Is it always just for majorities to have inherent rights over minorities?
As for less freedom, well would you want live in a totalitarian state, say like the Third Reich or the Taliban?
*coughs*
In that sense, you would possess less freedom (be it personal or economic) than in the UK at present.
This is my personal opinion, but greater freedom in a society leads to a greater quality of life. I don't feel it's the place of 'society' to determine what rights and freedoms a person has; rights in my mind are inherent and intrinsic.
The philosopher as an autocrat has unlimited power. He could take actions that are NOT in the best interest of society.
Who defines what a 'good society' is anyhow?
Take the 3rd reich, during Hitler's reign unemployment was near zero, crime was minimal, education was superb and Germany was one of the most powerful countries on Earth. If things had happened differently the world would be praising Hitler for the great work he did. As such, he went mad and decided to take over the world.
Democracy on the other hand is little more than organised chaos. What sort of system is good when the uneducated think they know how to run a country as well as the educated?
In the right hands, autocratic government is the most effective and beneficial form of government on Earth, it's only within the last 200 years of over 5000 years of human civilisation that the people have been able to decide for themselves what they think is best. When the Romans and the Greeks experimented with democracy and the republic their empires collapsed.
Doesn't that say something for the positive aspects of an autocratic government?
Who gets to decide whose the right hands are?
And who are you kidding, saying that the Greek empire collapsed because of democracy? There never was a Greek empire, instead there was a rag tag assortment of warring city states, with governments varying from the democratic Athens (everyone can vote on any issue. As long as your not a slave, poor, a criminal, a madman or a woman, that is.) to the oligarchic Sparta. The closest thing there has ever been to a Greek empire was the Macedonian empire under King Alexander (aka Alexander the Great), and that collapsed because he died without leaving a clear successor who could follow in his footsteps, so his generals tore his empire apart. Nothing whatsoever to do with a republic.
And don't you think that it's at all indicative that the strongest nation in the world today is a republic built around principles of freedom?
One person, one vote representation in one house of government and for the PM/President's election. Another house of Parliment or Congress would give a vote for a region. (So rural regions would have equal say in one house of government and the other would be based on sheer number of people.
Campaign contributions illegal. Free political ads for every candidate.
But in a democracy the opinions of the majority are ALWAYS implemented? Why is it that the 'many' should have the final say?
Secondly, the opinion of the majority is not always upheld. Think about out current legal and justice system. I do not think that in any way reflects the views of the majority.
Sorry about the Greek reference, but I see noone commented on my Roman one?
Yes, the most powerful country in the world is a republic, however it has only been powerful for 50 odd years, and only been in existence for 200. In terms of the length of history that is nothing.
Rome was a republic long before it became an empire; it continued to grow for centuries under the rule of the emperors. It also collapsed under the rule of the emperors. Rome was not a republic when she fell.