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The US is structured as a representative democracy, specifically because following politics and making reasoned decisions on all this stuff is a full time job.

The US is structured as a representative democracy, specifically because following politics and making reasoned decisions on all this stuff is a full time job. We elect people who we think will do a good job researching, reasoning and governing. I started my academic career in political science, I thought I wanted to be a journalist. Ultimately found that computer science had problems that I was better at working through. Different people have different strengths, there's nothing wrong with outsourcing your news consumption and analysis to someone who represents your interests.

isoskeles 8y ago
> The US is structured as a representative democracy, specifically because following politics and making reasoned decisions on all this stuff is a full time job. I don’t think the original intent was that government would be involved in “all this stuff”, but I agree that representative democracy works for the system we’ve built since then.
ergothus 8y ago
I don't disagree...but then we need to follow politics and make reasoned decisions as to who to elect to do a good job representing our interests. When we get too comfortable that things will remain the same level of corruption and effectiveness (whether we think that is a good or bad level) and stop being educated and selective, that is when things STOP remaining the same. Good news sources create accountability that isn't managed by PR. Poor news sources instead empower PR.
elicash 8y ago
The founders didn't like too much democracy for ALL SORTS of reasons, some valid and some not. They built a system that mostly empowered people like themselves. I'm not demonizing them, historical context matters and they did all sorts of stuff that was good and important -- my point is simply that we should feel more willing to question their assumptions than most people have been willing to do.

isoskeles 8y ago

> The US is structured as a representative democracy, specifically because following politics and making reasoned decisions on all this stuff is a full time job. I don’t think the original intent was that government would be involved in “all this stuff”, but I agree that representative democracy works for the system we’ve built since then.

ergothus 8y ago

I don't disagree...but then we need to follow politics and make reasoned decisions as to who to elect to do a good job representing our interests. When we get too comfortable that things will remain the same level of corruption and effectiveness (whether we think that is a good or bad level) and stop being educated and selective, that is when things STOP remaining the same. Good news sources create accountability that isn't managed by PR. Poor news sources instead empower PR.

elicash 8y ago

The founders didn't like too much democracy for ALL SORTS of reasons, some valid and some not. They built a system that mostly empowered people like themselves. I'm not demonizing them, historical context matters and they did all sorts of stuff that was good and important -- my point is simply that we should feel more willing to question their assumptions than most people have been willing to do.