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Wait, so is this an argument against elections too? Or maybe an argument for electoral votes and against popular votes?

• domoritz 4y ago
  Not necessarily. You can have proportional votes for representatives and then let those representatives make decisions that don’t reflect majority opinions when e.g. those decisions protect minorities.
• oneeyedpigeon 4y ago
  To me, it sounds more like an argument against listening to the loudest voices. So our (UK-perspective) elections go some of the way to achieving a well-functioning democracy, since the literal act of voting is egalitarian. The issues surrounding how those votes are influenced by the loudest voices, however, still have to be resolved.
  • ceejayoz 4y ago
    > To me, it sounds more like an argument against listening to the loudest voices. But it's a vote to reinstate one of them?
    • oneeyedpigeon 4y ago
      ‘Vox Populi Vox Dei’ was used by Musk as a 'justification' to reinstate such a voice. The article, pointing out that the phrase originally had a different context, isn't making that argument.
      • a1445c8b 4y ago
        So is the point then of posting the article here on HN just to show the irony of Musk’s tweet?
        • d23 4y ago
          I’d choose “idiocy,” but yes.
  • a1445c8b 4y ago
    I guess the lack of context around why this link was posted is causing some confusion. To me, the fact that the quote was taken from a time when democracy was not popular makes this whole HN posting sound like an argument against it (democracy). Disclaimer: I am for democracy.
• ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  Quite a lot of the classics were written by hereditary dictators and aristocrats, members of tiny elites so the anti-democracy angle is incredibly common.
  • a1445c8b 4y ago
    Indeed. Which led me to ask the question because there wasn’t much context provided on why it was posted on HN in the first place.