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The fundamental issue with elections is that the mob is easily swayed and because most of us are unqualified to hold opinions about most things. What is best or
by lo_zamoyski 4y ago
The fundamental issue with elections is that the mob is easily swayed and because most of us are unqualified to hold opinions about most things. What is best or true is not decided by majority vote. Never in a million years would I want mob rule. I don't know where this strange doctrine of mob wisdom came from, but it is dangerous and false. The vote is open to all adult citizens only because we need a hedge against corruption in leadership, and even then, it is a vote for leadership, not a system of referenda and direct democracy. Even this "hedge" can easily enable corruption and vote the worst tyrants into power.
And the reason we localize voting, or should do so, is because of the principle of subsidiary.
- EGreg 4y agoBack in 2014 there were a lot of studies on wisdom of the crowds. You’d have to explain why they beat experts at many fields yet in others they would be worse. Most of the failures (FTX, MtGox, Softbank, invasions of Iraq and Ukraine, wars in general) are the result of centralization, not the regular people (who don’t want to kill others en masse). Centralizing power and decision making in a few hands leads to a lot of consequences: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/04/02/297839429/-so-you-think-youre-smarter-than-a-cia-agent https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/04/02/297839429/...
- tremon 4y agoThat's not hard. Most cases where wisdom of the crowd works fine is when the crowd does not have a personal or emotional stake in the outcome. Such gatherings attract mostly people that have an interest in that particular area, so the crowd self-selects for competence. What is your expected outcome when you let the crowd decide how much taxes they pay, or how much to spend on road/water/electricity grid maintenance?