Democracy's biggest flaw...

Democracy's biggest benefit is the freedom of choice to pick your own leader. No matter your race or sex (age to vote is still a bit high to vote but the mentally ill are allowed to vote :? ), you can vote without having to reveal your choice of party to anyone but who you choose.That's all well and good! But no system is perfect, let's move on from that for a bit and focus on the biggest flump in Democracy's royal custard... if a majority rules, in a Democratic system, that is the law that gets passed. At a first glance this seems to be ok, needs of the majority over the needs of a few, right?Well... take it on the other side. Most of the time, when the public are asked a question, their opinion, they will give an answer that is most likely lacking in compassion for the concerning party. Asking our opinion seems empowering, but is it just keeping us happy while the real decisions are made by a swarm of incompassionate individuals with no interest in the subject other than having their voice heard.I will (shamelessly) bring up the topic of same-sex marriage to be used as an example, as it highlights the theme of compassion and how little democracy inspires in it.QuestionDo you think same-sex marriage should be allowed?...before you even answer that, to give a fair and unbias view you SHOULD consider your own position. Are you in love with someone of the same sex, or is someone you are close to in love with someone of the same sex? What are you basing your opinion on? If you can't answer these then you opinion isn't worthless, but it is worth less in terms of compassion for the people (par example) the prop 8 law effects. If your best friend couldn't get married to the love of their life simply because they loved the wrong person, you would feel that is wrong. If you grew up in a neighbourhood where there were few to no same sex relationships, the idea of gay marriage would be confusing.I am not preaching right or wrong on this, but you can see where I'm coming from with this example... if the opinion of a majority is so volatile and ill-informed, it may as well be a mob. What good mobs have there been in the last 100 years? Stack them up against the bad mobs and you'll have a top-heavy mobometre.To reitterate the actual point of the topic (lest it stray into uncharted or over-crowded waters), the needs of the majority are not reflected in ''public opinion'' indefinately. With the media as a catalyst, the strength of a balanced opinion is crumbling under the weight of the boarish reckonings of a man-on-the-sofa culture. 2 heads may be mightier than one but the balance is all out of skew.Democracy's biggest flaw...
Better education could really fix the issues with perspective and understanding.Democracy's biggest flaw...
[QUOTE=''warbmxjohn'']Better education could really fix the issues with perspective and understanding.[/QUOTE]

Education can only go so far. Especially when it's public. Everything public is a minefield of bureaucracy and subject to the same flaws as democracy.

It's unlikely the government can get a point across without the opposition smearing it for points. Wouldn't it be great if parliament just shut the **** up for once and reached a conclusuion based on their own policies reaching a comprimise rather than picking a more popular side merely to slander the opposition? We need another world war to get that kind of bi-partisanship, what a sorry conclusion!
''No matter your vote the government stil gets in.''?
Democracy's biggest flaw is that at it's heart it's nothing more than majoritarian voting, effectively in its simplest form ''mob mentality'', which is why there must always be safeguards put in place, checks and balances to make sure that:

1. The power of the people is limited (though they'll never tell you this).
2. That the rights of minorities of all sectors of society are protected.

The problem with modern day democracy's, and trust me I really could write an essay on this subject. is the fact that it has become so corrupted beyond belief. Like it's former sparring partner Communism, the ideals have become tainted and it no longer works as it was once envisioned.Modern day democracy is a total ******* sham, and what bothers me most isn't those who cling to the idealistic form of democracy but those who are not willing to accept that keeping the status quo (which they believe still works fine) is hindering society from moving forward.
Democracy doesn't work because the majority of people are idiots.
[QUOTE=''bean-with-bacon'']Democracy doesn't work because the majority of people are idiots.[/QUOTE]Lol so true.But I think that could be extended to, the human race doesn't work because the majority of the human race are idiots.
Democracy does not equal the ''ruling'' of majority. If you would look into a bit more in-depth you'd notice that most decisions made by politicians are not backed up by the majority at all (wars, bail out, green politics, EU Referendum, Abortion, Same Sex Marriage, Smoking Ban, and so forth). Id say, the flaw about democracy is that it only works if people participate, educate themselvs an vote (based on their research). It is a voluntary system and if you neglect it, it simply turns against you and sooner or later things turn for the worse and everyone's asking himself how this could have happened (WWII anyone ?).Still, Democracy may be flawed but it is the best alternative that is out there. If you aim for true perfection in a society, you are not aware of the human nature.Concering same-sex marriage. One should differntiate between agreeing with same-sex marriages (from a subjective viewpoint) and allowing it(from a legal viewpoint). It think it's okay to dismiss the concept of same-sex marriage, yet one should not forbid it in a liberal society.Personally, Id say live and let live, same-sex marriages are good ! (yay)Take careRiver
[QUOTE=''Hoobinator'']Democracy's biggest flaw is that at it's heart it's nothing more than majoritarian voting, effectively in its simplest form ''mob mentality'', which is why there must always be safeguards put in place, checks and balances to make sure that:

1. The power of the people is limited (though they'll never tell you this).
2. That the rights of minorities of all sectors of society are protected.

The problem with modern day democracy's, and trust me I really could write an essay on this subject. is the fact that it has become so corrupted beyond belief. Like it's former sparring partner Communism, the ideals have become tainted and it no longer works as it was once envisioned.Modern day democracy is a total ******* sham, and what bothers me most isn't those who cling to the idealistic form of democracy but those who are not willing to accept that keeping the status quo (which they believe still works fine) is hindering society from moving forward.[/QUOTE]

I pretty much agree.

But Commuism is interesting because it called itself the only ''true'' democracy. Yet most things were controlled by the state instead of just some things :?

And as for this...

[QUOTE=''bean-with-bacon'']Democracy doesn't work because the majority of people are idiots.[/QUOTE]

That's what I'm getting at, the lack of information and compassion is pretty much what I'd call ignorance and that paves the way for lunacy and idiocy.

Some information is worse than no information at all.
People are not born being idiots, and many people who are and were undemocratic are not uneducated (Bush Senior, Mugabe, Hitler Stalin, Berlusconi and so on). Many tribal communities would be considered uneducated by ''our'' (Western) standards, but that does not make them idiots at all.Think before you argue, guysRiver
[QUOTE=''Ravenhoe'']People are not born being idiots, and many people who are and were undemocratic are not uneducated (Bush Senior, Mugabe, Hitler Stalin, Berlusconi and so on). Many tribal communities would be considered uneducated by ''our'' (Western) standards, but that does not make them idiots at all.Think before you argue, guysRiver[/QUOTE]

Hitler, Mugabee, Stalin and Bush (if the last one even counts) should know better than a tribal community. The public had a responsibility in all of these people coming to power, too (Stalin to a lesser extent).

Not that the tribal community is any of our business other than a topic of study. Even if they were tyranical it's not our place to say what they should do, that's the point of a nation.

Something quite bleak is the fact that no matter how genius a person is, it is the public that detrmines their fate in terms of recognition and importance. Imagine if Mozart had misgivings about Catholicism. His perfect music wouldn't be heard because his view was unpopular and he talked a little too loud. One Mozart is worth a hundred contemporary slobs, if a value could ever be put to it, yet the mediocre actually decided his fate and untimely death in the end, for real this time.
[QUOTE=''Hoobinator'']Democracy's biggest flaw is that at it's heart it's nothing more than majoritarian voting, effectively in its simplest form ''mob mentality'', which is why there must always be safeguards put in place, checks and balances to make sure that:

1. The power of the people is limited (though they'll never tell you this).
2. That the rights of minorities of all sectors of society are protected.

The problem with modern day democracy's, and trust me I really could write an essay on this subject. is the fact that it has become so corrupted beyond belief. Like it's former sparring partner Communism, the ideals have become tainted and it no longer works as it was once envisioned.Modern day democracy is a total ******* sham, and what bothers me most isn't those who cling to the idealistic form of democracy but those who are not willing to accept that keeping the status quo (which they believe still works fine) is hindering society from moving forward.[/QUOTE]



Great post.
Not many people seem to remember that the US was NOT founded as a democracy. Many of the founding fathers of this country despised democracy. We are a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC and as such 99% of the poeple should not even have control over 1% of the population. Unfortunately too many people have been brainwashed from their childhoods to believe we are, in fact, in a democracy and that 51% of the poeple control 49% of the populace. It's a shame being that America was formed with the best form of government that has likely ever existed, but because of corporations and corrupt politicians it has been reduced to a mere democracy.
[QUOTE=''jer_1'']Not many people seem to remember that the US was NOT founded as a democracy. Many of the founding fathers of this country despised democracy. We are a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC and as such 99% of the poeple should not even have control over 1% of the population. Unfortunately too many people have been brainwashed from their childhoods to believe we are, in fact, in a democracy and that 51% of the poeple control 49% of the populace. It's a shame being that America was formed with the best form of government that has likely ever existed, but because of corporations and corrupt politicians it has been reduced to a mere democracy.[/QUOTE]

Yes, the USA is deforming from the constitutional ages into a Democracy just like Rome did. As it's such a huge country with many regional variations, the limits put in place by Wasington go over a lot of people's heads. And for a fragile system like Democracy, it's a dirty dirty battleground.

It ''works'' in some places, but there's obvious room for improvement as the flaws are ignored and go unchallenged as people shameless preach Democracy as if it was synonymous with ''the only way we have''. Churchill was right to pick Democarcy, but that was over fascism and communism, the thought of a Constitutional Republic was still punishable by death, technically as it was treasonous.

Democracy is becoming just another dogma in our lives, a club foot in society. It's no longer the best we have if we can do better, and for a start we could begin by telling the press they have a duty of care over the moron public and that they aren't allowed to offer opinion during a factual report and that their intentions are altruistic and there is no agenda. That's step one.
I love this pic.
That is why we combine democratic systems with objective laws.
[QUOTE=''Cactus_Matt''][QUOTE=''bean-with-bacon'']Democracy doesn't work because the majority of people are idiots.[/QUOTE]Lol so true.But I think that could be extended to, the human race doesn't work because the majority of the human race are idiots.[/QUOTE]gods and...

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