3 ms·

Most people don't know what they're doing or don't possess enough knowledge to take good decisions on most subjects. Democracy is a stupid ruling scheme. I und

Most people don't know what they're doing or don't possess enough knowledge to take good decisions on most subjects. Democracy is a stupid ruling scheme. I understand the basis of democracy, but you can't ask a lumberjack to legislate deforestation.

kriro 12y ago
That's a pretty cynical point of view. And what's the alternative, handing the decisions over to a "ruling class" of elites? One could make a somewhat compelling argument that current democratic systems are pretty much a "curse of Plato" (term taken from Open Society by Popper) type of system with an extra layer of indirection above it and. I think there's at least enough evidence from other areas (broadly wisdom of the crowds) + technology is good enough these days to quickly vote on stuff to invest in more direct alternatives.
- bildung 12y ago
  No, that view could only be seen as cynical if we would be an a either-or situation - which we aren't. Another plausible path would be bolstering education, especially for the underprivileged that usually are exactly the part of the population not integrated into the political process (e.g. Germany too has a problem with continually declining voter turnout, but if you look closer that only affects the working class, for the upper classes it's still 80%). The big problem with technocratic approaches like Democracy OS or the pirate parties' liquid democracy is the amount of the population you exclude by introducing this technological barrier to political participation for e.g. old people. But as empirics trump reasoning (quite in the spirit of Popper), I hereby make the case that the net party won't have an economically compelling pension concept or health care plan for the elderly in Argentina within the next 10 years. Now we just have to wait and see ;)
- throwaway934848 12y ago
  The alternative would be for the governing class to be the most intelligent of the country. I would rather be governed by a few intellectuals than by a stupid majority.
markvdb 12y ago
Many Swiss would disagree with you. Turns out if you give people a lot of responsability, they'd rather use it responsibly. Could it be that representative democracy produces part of the political disinterest and lack of knowledge?
- throwaway934848 12y ago
  Even trying their hardest, decisions made by "less intelligent" people will be bad.
- piamancini 12y ago
  I agree with you. We've outsourced citizenship and thinking for a long time. It's a long road ahead the one to reverse this.

kriro 12y ago

That's a pretty cynical point of view. And what's the alternative, handing the decisions over to a "ruling class" of elites? One could make a somewhat compelling argument that current democratic systems are pretty much a "curse of Plato" (term taken from Open Society by Popper) type of system with an extra layer of indirection above it and. I think there's at least enough evidence from other areas (broadly wisdom of the crowds) + technology is good enough these days to quickly vote on stuff to invest in more direct alternatives.

bildung 12y ago
No, that view could only be seen as cynical if we would be an a either-or situation - which we aren't. Another plausible path would be bolstering education, especially for the underprivileged that usually are exactly the part of the population not integrated into the political process (e.g. Germany too has a problem with continually declining voter turnout, but if you look closer that only affects the working class, for the upper classes it's still 80%). The big problem with technocratic approaches like Democracy OS or the pirate parties' liquid democracy is the amount of the population you exclude by introducing this technological barrier to political participation for e.g. old people. But as empirics trump reasoning (quite in the spirit of Popper), I hereby make the case that the net party won't have an economically compelling pension concept or health care plan for the elderly in Argentina within the next 10 years. Now we just have to wait and see ;)
throwaway934848 12y ago
The alternative would be for the governing class to be the most intelligent of the country. I would rather be governed by a few intellectuals than by a stupid majority.

markvdb 12y ago

Many Swiss would disagree with you. Turns out if you give people a lot of responsability, they'd rather use it responsibly. Could it be that representative democracy produces part of the political disinterest and lack of knowledge?

throwaway934848 12y ago
Even trying their hardest, decisions made by "less intelligent" people will be bad.
piamancini 12y ago
I agree with you. We've outsourced citizenship and thinking for a long time. It's a long road ahead the one to reverse this.