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> Disparaging democracy The ancient Athenians knew that elections favored the rich. That’s why they incorporated selection by lot into their system. Our modern

> Disparaging democracy The ancient Athenians knew that elections favored the rich. That’s why they incorporated selection by lot into their system. Our modern understanding of democracy has fetishized elections to the point that some voters might see hundreds of them in a year, including for positions that shouldn’t ever be elected (e.g. judges), while still having little to no actual civic power.

triceratops 5mo ago
How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting.
- deleted 5mo ago
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- JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
  > How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting Oh totally agree. But also civic involvement. The returns to even small amounts of civic engagement in America are so ridiculously high because most of the population doesn’t do it. If like 5% more of the electorate called their electeds at least twice a year, that would represent a 25% increase in civic engagement, enough to break constituencies.
catigula 5mo ago
The "just vote" lot are the perfect pressure release valve for the failed system. Out of control inflation? No healthcare? Endless war? Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat! It's time to say no to these charlatans. If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change.
- triceratops 5mo ago
  > You just have to vote for a democrat! Or a third party. > If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change There's only 2 ways it can change: voting or violence. You're saying voting doesn't work. That means you're advocating violence.
- pixelatedindex 5mo ago
  > Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat! It's time to say no to these charlatans. Biased much? Why not say no to Republicans, they put us in this mess time and time again.
thijson 5mo ago
I think the Athenians named our current system an oligarchy. Selection by lot would take a lot of the corrupting influence of money out of the system too. There would need to be safeguards though, similar to how juries are protected during a trial. I read somewhere recently about how congress should be much bigger than it is currently due to population growth, and how that would make all the redistricting that currently happens irrelevant.

triceratops 5mo ago

How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting.

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
> How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting Oh totally agree. But also civic involvement. The returns to even small amounts of civic engagement in America are so ridiculously high because most of the population doesn’t do it. If like 5% more of the electorate called their electeds at least twice a year, that would represent a 25% increase in civic engagement, enough to break constituencies.

catigula 5mo ago

The "just vote" lot are the perfect pressure release valve for the failed system. Out of control inflation? No healthcare? Endless war? Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat! It's time to say no to these charlatans. If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change.

triceratops 5mo ago
> You just have to vote for a democrat! Or a third party. > If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change There's only 2 ways it can change: voting or violence. You're saying voting doesn't work. That means you're advocating violence.
pixelatedindex 5mo ago
> Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat! It's time to say no to these charlatans. Biased much? Why not say no to Republicans, they put us in this mess time and time again.

thijson 5mo ago

I think the Athenians named our current system an oligarchy. Selection by lot would take a lot of the corrupting influence of money out of the system too. There would need to be safeguards though, similar to how juries are protected during a trial. I read somewhere recently about how congress should be much bigger than it is currently due to population growth, and how that would make all the redistricting that currently happens irrelevant.