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The problem with democracy is that you end up with mob rule. And as soon as the mob realizes it can vote itself bread and circus, it's all over. The founding
by cpr 6y ago
The problem with democracy is that you end up with mob rule.
And as soon as the mob realizes it can vote itself bread and circus, it's all over.
The founding fathers said exactly that.
And the mob in general is in thrall to the media, which is pretty much a wholly owned operation of the ruling class.
So, I guess, in the end, you get what your ruling class wants anyway, with the unwitting mob just a means to its own control.
- plint 6y agoJust as a fact check, it appears that the saying that I think you are referring to is one commonly misattributed to Benjamin Franklin. See https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4hlaxi/did_ben_franklin_say_when_the_people_find_that/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4hlaxi/did_b... Were you thinking of another source?
- natmaka 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacyclosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacyclosis
- threatofrain 6y agoIf a democracy wants authoritarianism Nationalist Party then there is no magic mechanism to stop this, and it might be presumptive to even assume that democracy is most morally harmonious and effective configuration of society. I believe China is seriously contending this assumption, as it races ahead of its Asian and European neighbors with respect to economic optimism. Also, political parties appear part and parcel with democracy, but that part of the discussion is so often left unloved.
- bathtub365 6y agoAnd I would say it also races far ahead of its neighbours on the number of atrocities it commits against its own citizenry.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- seneca 6y agoChina is certainly effective. The willingness to simply murder dissidents makes things much simpler. I struggle to see how anyone could consider China "morally harmonious" though. Their effectiveness seems to be directly at the cost of any morality.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- sv9 6y agoThis is 100% a rightwing talking point, pushed by the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Ann Coulter, and I wish it would go away. Look... if we all want to get along, then we need some way of working together despite disagreements. If 51% of people want to do something, we all must agree that that's okay. Otherwise nothing would ever get done.
- achillesheels 6y agoI’m astonished the National Socialist experiment in Germany is being ignored by this commenter. Indeed your premise is antithetical to Western tradition, which is presumably good because of its endowments to humanity. See: the death of Socrates and the death of Jesus.
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoYou missed one piece - a limited government. The 51% can get what they want, as long as it's within the things that we let government do. If it's outside that, then they need a lot more than 51% - like maybe 3/4 of the states.