Human Nature

[Alan V]

If it is human nature at fault then why there is still democracy in the world? Are Americans are naturally deficient and thus prone to vote on fascists? Fascist trash in other countries can't beat propaganda "perfection" of immigrants eating cats? Parts of Europe are settled by naturally superior people who don't buy into demagoguery and propaganda? Surely if it is human nature at fault then at least one of the above must be true.

You can't say that above aren't about human nature thus I hope that you will answer.

Democracies were designed to offset the worst tendencies of human nature by dividing power between various branches of government. The idea was that no one person or group should be given too much power because of the human tendency to abuse power.

The confluence of several trends in the U.S. has undermined Amercans' understanding that for all of its failings and gridlock, democracy is still the best possible system of government. Those trends include not-so-fair-and-balanced news sources, the declining impact of our educational systems, misinformation and disinformation available on the internet, a lack of critical-thinking skills, too much money in politics, taking our institutions for granted because of habituation, and the rise of a demagogue, which was enabled by all of these factors.

All I am saying is that the customer isn't always right, or in this case the voters, especially when they are convinced that demanding the impossible is acceptable. And of course "the impossible" depends on the specific circumstances at the time. What is impossible now may become possible later.

So now, because we elected Trump again, we have to learn the hard way why democracy is so important. My premise is that propaganda and demagoguery (lies) are anti-democratic, yet because of human nature too many of us like to believe in lies. Atheists should certainly be able to understand this point.