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"Corrupt politicians" is a tautology. I don't vote because I don't consent to mob rule, and I refuse to participate in forcing my preferences on other people u
by zargon 16y ago
"Corrupt politicians" is a tautology. I don't vote because I don't consent to mob rule, and I refuse to participate in forcing my preferences on other people using the violence of the state.
- tansey 16y agoMob rule? We have a constitution designed for majority say with minority rights. We have checks and balances. There is a reason we need a social contract in society, and it's been well articulated by people like Locke and Hobbes for hundreds of years. I don't want to get into a flame war on HN, so I'll just end my replies here. :)
- CapitalistCartr 16y agoThat's why we don't have 'mob rule', i.e. Democracy in the USA. Instead we have a constitutional republic.
- zargon 16y agoI find it interesting that people leap to correct/redefine the usage of a word so that they can ignore the meaning of a statement.
- CapitalistCartr 16y agoNo, that is the crux of his statement. Complaining about a situation as it doesn't exist, is akin to a straw man.
- zargon 16y agoI didn't know that the term was considered a synonym 'democracy', and was using it in a more general sense. The main link between the two seems to be usage along the lines of the Jefferson quote. Saying that a democracy is a type of mob rule doesn't make it the only type of mob rule. Whether the mob is every citizen or just the citizens that wear majority-approved costumes doesn't change the meaning I was trying to convey.