(March 13, 2022 at 6:04 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(March 12, 2022 at 10:36 pm)TaraJo Wrote: Democracy has problems, but so does any type of government system. Democracy is probably the best option, but we need to know and understand the shortcomings of the system if we expect it to continue working.
Unfortunately, to do that, we need a well educated, well informed public and we've got a large portion of the population that is hostile towards education and any news that doesn't parrot their conspiracy theories is dismissed as "fake news." Therefore, nothing will change any time soon.
Reminds of a remark by Churchill (I think) that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the other ones that have been tried.
Boru
Yup. I've always loved that quote. I agree with Churchill's (and TaraJo's) assessment. Democracy is the best we got. But it isn't perfect. We need to be aware of its shortcomings.
I think one of the things that helps democracy function is education. This goes back to Plato who thought rulers should be educated to rule. By that logic, when the general public is the "ruler" so to speak... the general public needs robust education.
I also think socialism is important to democracy. The public shouldn't make decisions out of desperation. Good decision making is made with a cool head... not out of fear or anguish. Typically how we've justified an emperor having a comfortable lifestyle. Well... when the general public is the emperor, we need to make sure that the emperor is well-rested, and well cared-for.
