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I would expect as much, just based on how badly direct democracies have performed historically. John Adams said, "Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon
by mullingitover 5y ago
I would expect as much, just based on how badly direct democracies have performed historically.
John Adams said, "Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy."
In the past, democracy was viewed as a form of government that republics devolved into.
- ceilingcorner 5y agoThis was covered by Plato 2,500 years ago. But we don’t learn about that ancient outdated stuff anymore, as it isn’t beneficial for the economy.
- stereolambda 5y agoWell, it's interesting, then, that Switzerland is one of the oldest political regimes in Europe. This kind of rhetoric tends to come from elitist thinkers that would want a guarantee of power over people because they think they are right and somehow destined to have it. If we are on topic of exchanging opinions of famous men, I think Machiavelli said that the people can be misled and go astray but are not prevented by pride from correcting themselves, like rulers would.
- mullingitover 5y ago> Switzerland is one of the oldest political regimes in Europe. The age of their regime has nothing to do with their history of practicing direct democracy, that happened well after the founding of the US. > This kind of rhetoric tends to come from elitist thinkers that would want a guarantee of power over people because they think they are right and somehow destined to have it. On the contrary, I'm just defending the wisdom of the existing constitutional republic framework that we have currently. There's obvious value in constitutional safeguards against the whims of the mob, while still giving the citizenry a say in the long-term direction of the state.
- Nasrudith 5y agoYeah - democracies are downright miraculously stable in comparison to dictatorships. Look at a period of 200 years of the US - one civil war. Look at the history of England. If you say its "civil war" you need to be more specific than even by century! Stability of dictatorships is a "trains run on time" style Big Lie.
- mullingitover 5y agoI don't think anyone was saying that dictatorships were good either - that's another system of government that was considered to be a devolution of a republic.