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Re: Fwd: Questioning Democracy
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wow this argument is pretty prolific. i'll just weigh in with a couple of
points
the problem with putting any kind of restriction on who is allowed to vote
is that they can quickly get extended, and before you know it is not
vaguely democratic.i do agree with churchill about the average voter being
clueless though, we should aim to educate rather than exclude (looking back
at that sentence, i think that whoever made the point about us all being
egoists was right on the ball too, and what other group of people would
defend their own views so fiercely simply because they believe they are
right?) and matthew, when you said 'I think that philosophers are better
placed to decide
things' i assume you realise just how Platonic you were sounding? try
suggesting that to anyone who isn't a philosopher...
one possible, and cynical reason for democracy is control. the reason most
european monarch's gradually ceded control to parliament was because they
feared the public wrath if they didn't.the french revolution is a good
example of what happens when the monarch refuses.so whatever the
intellectual or moral claims for an undemocratic system, unless it is an
extremely well organised dictatorship, it will fall eventually.
i think it was edward who made the point about france and america being more
oligarchic than democratic, and i agree totally. america is ruled by the
same big families, and the only people who can break into the clique are
already rich and/or famous. as for france - their current prime minister
dominique de villepin has never been elected, he was a civil servant who
got promoted:
'But the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says that as a career diplomat never
elected to public office, he of all candidates most typifies the French
elite so roundly rejected by the French people on Sunday.'
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4595423.stm)
so there you go. meritocracies exist, and they are not popular.at least not
when they pretend to be democracies.
nick
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