4 ms·

Governments should be working on multi-generational scales. Not "fads" of what people want because they saw it in a movie or they grew up with it.

palmotea 8mo ago
> Governments should be working on multi-generational scales. Not "fads" of what people want because they saw it in a movie or they grew up with it. If the people disagree with you, then you're not talking about democracy, you're talking about "benevolent" authoritarianism ("we know what's good for you, and that's what you're going to get, like it or not"). Just be clear what you're really advocating for.
- withinboredom 8mo ago
  Since when is government a democracy? Roman times or something like that? Most? Some? Or at least a few government officials are elected. Pretty sure most are hired.
  - bigstrat2003 8mo ago
    Since today. We elect our representatives and they are supposed to reflect the people's wishes as they go about their duties. Some city government staff might be hired employees, even most. But they are still fundamentally accountable to the elected representatives, and thus to the people.
    - withinboredom 8mo ago
      They run an election based on a platform. You are voting for the person and the platform. They aren’t there to do your wishes, but to accomplish their agenda the people “agreed” was the best of all options that election cycle. Sometimes this agenda is altruistic, like reducing crime. Sometimes it is populist, or social, or even fascist. Even then, elected officials are supposed to have limited power, not unlimited power. In some (many, depending on where you live) cases, they’re not even accountable to the people — the people can’t recall them, to remove them is a political act by other parts of government.
- danaris 8mo ago
  No, what we need is not "democracy" as in "we get what every idiot thinks is good off the top of their head". What we need is a representative democracy, where our representatives genuinely care about getting the best outcomes, so they enlist experts who actually know what they're talking about, and make policy based on that. Yes, sometimes that will disagree with what the masses want—and in most of those cases, that means that our representatives need to enlist some communication experts to explain why it's actually best. Democracy isn't an end in itself. It's supposed to be the means to an end of better governance for all. We don't have to accept things that are actively worse for us just because 50%+1 of the relevant voters think they're better right this second.
gnz11 8mo ago
When you pan out, walkable neighborhoods are at the multi generational scale — car centric suburbia is the fad.

palmotea 8mo ago

> Governments should be working on multi-generational scales. Not "fads" of what people want because they saw it in a movie or they grew up with it. If the people disagree with you, then you're not talking about democracy, you're talking about "benevolent" authoritarianism ("we know what's good for you, and that's what you're going to get, like it or not"). Just be clear what you're really advocating for.

withinboredom 8mo ago
Since when is government a democracy? Roman times or something like that? Most? Some? Or at least a few government officials are elected. Pretty sure most are hired.
- bigstrat2003 8mo ago
  Since today. We elect our representatives and they are supposed to reflect the people's wishes as they go about their duties. Some city government staff might be hired employees, even most. But they are still fundamentally accountable to the elected representatives, and thus to the people.
  - withinboredom 8mo ago
    They run an election based on a platform. You are voting for the person and the platform. They aren’t there to do your wishes, but to accomplish their agenda the people “agreed” was the best of all options that election cycle. Sometimes this agenda is altruistic, like reducing crime. Sometimes it is populist, or social, or even fascist. Even then, elected officials are supposed to have limited power, not unlimited power. In some (many, depending on where you live) cases, they’re not even accountable to the people — the people can’t recall them, to remove them is a political act by other parts of government.
danaris 8mo ago
No, what we need is not "democracy" as in "we get what every idiot thinks is good off the top of their head". What we need is a representative democracy, where our representatives genuinely care about getting the best outcomes, so they enlist experts who actually know what they're talking about, and make policy based on that. Yes, sometimes that will disagree with what the masses want—and in most of those cases, that means that our representatives need to enlist some communication experts to explain why it's actually best. Democracy isn't an end in itself. It's supposed to be the means to an end of better governance for all. We don't have to accept things that are actively worse for us just because 50%+1 of the relevant voters think they're better right this second.

gnz11 8mo ago

When you pan out, walkable neighborhoods are at the multi generational scale — car centric suburbia is the fad.