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deleted 6y ago
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deathgrips 6y ago
>Whatever democracy we have depends on how well organized the general population is against elite political factions If the people making up the democracy are too naïve and uneducated to defend against external and internal threats then democracy will fail. Reality is that which happens regardless of your political beliefs.
- medicineman 6y ago
  Welcome to Athens, Thucydides.
CaptArmchair 6y ago
The premise is based on a social contract. It's based on consenting and supporting a shared set of morals, values, and fundamental ideas that define how a nation is organized, and which rights and obligations its citizens have and are bound to. This is formally enshrined in a constitution. Why support such a framework? Because you trust that it will provide affordances towards personal security, liberty, well being, happiness,... and so on. Such a framework only works if enough people back it. This is what requires collective trust. You trust that your neighbours support the same basic principles and are willing to back and defend them when push comes to shove. Democracies tend to fall apart when people stop supporting these basic principles, and start distrusting others. This typically tends to happen in times of crisis when the foundational principles no longer are perceived as adhered to by other members of society. That perception can be real or false. Real as in an economic crisis causing millions to lose their home without receiving relief from the state they back. False as in being goaded or manipulated into believing that those foundational principles no longer are adhered to by large fractions of society. The latter typically happens by playing at strong emotions, and ignorance. A good example is how populists leverage polarization. You define an out-group, you attack that out-group and you describe them as not adhering to the foundational principles that govern the state. The twist is to use rhetoric that gradually shifts the goal posts that define those foundational principles. Each step of the way, you keep building and retaining consent as you refine your ideas. Down the line, populists win when they succeed in transforming that consent into legitimate authority. > Whatever democracy we have depends on how well organized the general population Any democratic society is self organizing. This creates a paradox, then. That is, it organizes itself by popular vote. And this includes, paradoxically, the potential to organize itself towards disbanding the very principles that govern it's democratic organization. This is why a lawful democracy can only survive if enough people are willing to band together and keep defending its very ideas and notions. Regardless of their present personal predicament.

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deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

>Whatever democracy we have depends on how well organized the general population is against elite political factions If the people making up the democracy are too naïve and uneducated to defend against external and internal threats then democracy will fail. Reality is that which happens regardless of your political beliefs.

medicineman 6y ago
Welcome to Athens, Thucydides.

CaptArmchair 6y ago

The premise is based on a social contract. It's based on consenting and supporting a shared set of morals, values, and fundamental ideas that define how a nation is organized, and which rights and obligations its citizens have and are bound to. This is formally enshrined in a constitution. Why support such a framework? Because you trust that it will provide affordances towards personal security, liberty, well being, happiness,... and so on. Such a framework only works if enough people back it. This is what requires collective trust. You trust that your neighbours support the same basic principles and are willing to back and defend them when push comes to shove. Democracies tend to fall apart when people stop supporting these basic principles, and start distrusting others. This typically tends to happen in times of crisis when the foundational principles no longer are perceived as adhered to by other members of society. That perception can be real or false. Real as in an economic crisis causing millions to lose their home without receiving relief from the state they back. False as in being goaded or manipulated into believing that those foundational principles no longer are adhered to by large fractions of society. The latter typically happens by playing at strong emotions, and ignorance. A good example is how populists leverage polarization. You define an out-group, you attack that out-group and you describe them as not adhering to the foundational principles that govern the state. The twist is to use rhetoric that gradually shifts the goal posts that define those foundational principles. Each step of the way, you keep building and retaining consent as you refine your ideas. Down the line, populists win when they succeed in transforming that consent into legitimate authority. > Whatever democracy we have depends on how well organized the general population Any democratic society is self organizing. This creates a paradox, then. That is, it organizes itself by popular vote. And this includes, paradoxically, the potential to organize itself towards disbanding the very principles that govern it's democratic organization. This is why a lawful democracy can only survive if enough people are willing to band together and keep defending its very ideas and notions. Regardless of their present personal predicament.