Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
In another thread, @BetteTheRed commented:
So if the voting public can't be trusted to behave sensibly and consider things other than self-interest, why are we letting them make these decisions? Plato essentially argued that we leave things like medicine to specialists, so why not governance. Having a well-educated public should help, but we still seem to end up with loud, well-organized minorities, often following some populist leader, carrying the day. Trump is the extreme example, but Andrew Scheer kind of slides in as lesser one. Scheer became Conservative leader largely because he was so-con enough to keep that bunch happy but not vocally so-con enough to offend others. IOW, the so-cons really determined the outcome, even if he wasn't their perfect choice.
Is there a solution to populism and demagoguery that doesn't involve nerfing democracy? Has democracy as we know it run its course? Should there be a minimum standard of education or something to vote (and, by extension, to be a "full citizen")?
I'm not arguing for or against anything here, just seeing if there's interest in having a discussion of this topic.
Agreed. There is no indication, anywhere, that a majority of the "voting public" (those deemed by the "polity" to be qualified to determine "political best interests") ever behave sensibly, in anybody but their own self-interests, etc.
So if the voting public can't be trusted to behave sensibly and consider things other than self-interest, why are we letting them make these decisions? Plato essentially argued that we leave things like medicine to specialists, so why not governance. Having a well-educated public should help, but we still seem to end up with loud, well-organized minorities, often following some populist leader, carrying the day. Trump is the extreme example, but Andrew Scheer kind of slides in as lesser one. Scheer became Conservative leader largely because he was so-con enough to keep that bunch happy but not vocally so-con enough to offend others. IOW, the so-cons really determined the outcome, even if he wasn't their perfect choice.
Is there a solution to populism and demagoguery that doesn't involve nerfing democracy? Has democracy as we know it run its course? Should there be a minimum standard of education or something to vote (and, by extension, to be a "full citizen")?
I'm not arguing for or against anything here, just seeing if there's interest in having a discussion of this topic.