Quote:
Originally Posted by EatingPie
Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
It depends on how you define "democracy." 
The real problem with a direct democracy is that there are more stupid people than smart ones, and if everyone gets an equal say, all you do is guarantee that the stupid thing gets done.  |
Interesting discussion on democracy, however I definitely don't agree with this statement. |
Well, since I meant it tongue in cheek (sorry, should have been clearer about that), I'm not particularly bothered by your disagreeing with it.
I also agree that it's a gross oversimplification of the situation. Your quite correct that intellectual capabilities aren't the problem it's more lack of information. Of course it often seems that there's some sort of deliberate action toward making it hard to get that information. You mention the laws which are so complicated that no one can follow them enough to know whether you want to support them or not. It's an excellent example of the phenomenon.
Normal, honest people, who actively
want to do the right thing simply don't have the time and energy needed to wade through all that rubbish to figure out what that right thing might be. They're too busy wish being self sufficient.
I'd like to see some of the effort to make voting a non-effort put towards making the information needed to make an
informed decision more accessible.
I have to spend hours each election just figuring out what races I'll be voting in, and that's before I even start to research the actual issues. There's just
no good reason for it to be
so difficult.