tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post937891010475473159..comments2024-03-29T04:06:37.402-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: The Trouble with DemocracyStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-80891731447402684522016-08-17T13:18:11.429-07:002016-08-17T13:18:11.429-07:00If democracy only means majority rule, its easy to...If democracy only means majority rule, its easy to despair due to the ignorance of the masses, and just as bad enabled by self interested parties who would prefer to sabotage the system than cooperate as permanent second fiddles.<br /><br />Market freedom seems superior, and majority rule is bad there, where monopolies can tilt the field in their favor. And Tom Perkins actually joked seriously that 1$ 1-vote, ought to be a good system like by taxes paid. Let the successful decide is a good system where success is from skill and hard work.<br /><br />I incidentally minneapoilia just voted in a first Somali state rep nominee, a hard game in a district with a minority somali, but primaries are vast minority rule elections and she still has to appeal to the majority in November.<br /><br />Europe's party list votes allow easier minority representation but then winners only represent their subset voters, not a!l.<br /><br />I don't know if china will gain in voters rights and it seems as likely that our system can regress if the supreme court can fins rationalizations consistent with the constitution that limit voters rights.<br /><br />And perhaps we've now proved at least that party primaries for president are profoundly unequal and leads to an ugly mob rule and animosity than good sense. <br /><br />Myself I might support president by lot - among candidates who make some electoral college thresholds. No mandate and the winner knows he won by providence not his mudslinging skils or his sidestepping dancing.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-28171309241840377072016-08-16T17:55:16.394-07:002016-08-16T17:55:16.394-07:00Stuart,
Here is an article from Le Figaro that yo...Stuart,<br /><br />Here is an article from Le Figaro that you might find interesting. It shows where some precincts of French opinion are headed.<br /><br />http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/2016/08/16/31001-20160816ARTFIG00093-jean-louis-harouel-les-femmes-qui-portent-le-burkini-sont-des-militantes.php<br /><br />It is a war on two interrelated fronts - the djihadis who kill and the Islamic supremacists infiltrating the culture, institutions, laws and ways of life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-27238817993936698032016-08-16T14:46:04.799-07:002016-08-16T14:46:04.799-07:00Universal suffrage -> keys to the treasury ->...Universal suffrage -> keys to the treasury -> tragedy of the commonsTrigger Warningnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-46472776408761605722016-08-16T13:50:24.011-07:002016-08-16T13:50:24.011-07:00"Who Are We?", Prof. Sam Huntington'..."Who Are We?", Prof. Sam Huntington's last book (almost a cri' d' cour - sp) was about these problems.<br /><br />Unrestricted immigration. Transnational Elites. Loss of common culture. Loss of confidence. Fraying social bonds. Ignorance of History. Waning patriotism of our Leaders in all sectors.<br /><br />Our sturdy middle & working classes are literally Dying. And Drugging. And not forming stable families - with children. The men losing confidence, self respect - their women's respect too.<br /><br />Must read the new book by author of "The Bell Curve" on the subject.<br /><br />I'm worried. There's no guarantee America will Long Endure. Only "if we can keep it" as Ben Franklin said.<br /><br />I wrote speeches about that. Nobody would give them. -- Rich LaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-4032807413824742902016-08-16T13:19:46.052-07:002016-08-16T13:19:46.052-07:00Isn't it NYT's Thomas Friedman who thinks ...Isn't it NYT's Thomas Friedman who thinks China's is the way we should go?Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-20773068964576620912016-08-16T12:59:14.517-07:002016-08-16T12:59:14.517-07:00Speaking of democracy - Drudge today shows Google ...Speaking of democracy - Drudge today shows Google is joining the Dems. Anyone surprised? I got a chuckle when Fox News was all agog about Google and Twitter being involved in the GOP debates. It was Silicon Valley opposition research. Collecting names. I'd say the GOP was a bunch of fools, as if we didn't already know. They've blowing this whole thing, and it started before Trump said a word, or even announced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-32948518842174974672016-08-16T08:58:36.232-07:002016-08-16T08:58:36.232-07:00Excellent post.
I'd like to echo what Anonym...Excellent post. <br /><br />I'd like to echo what Anonymous says above. In America's case, problems are caused not by the tyranny of the majority as a result of democratic outcomes, but by elites using constitutional protections to impose their narrow agenda through the Supreme Court and executive branch, at the expense of Congress. <br /><br />The Supreme Court, in particular, ought to be more deferential to the will of the people. Instead, judicial review today is the means to overturn citizen sensibilities found to be anathema to the cognitive elite. These include direct democracy state ballot issues invalidated by federal courts. If the Constitution is to be interpreted, humility begs that justices consider not imposing their personal views, but to consider the impact on the country and the citizen's relationship to government. <br /><br />And then we have President Obama, who sees fit to act in his own with policies he favors because Congress won't go along with him. Elites don't see this as a republic, they increasingly see it as a systematic oligarchy, with converging viewpoints among the people in charge. <br /><br />Citizens are quickly learning that their opinions do not matter. This is bad for our Constitutional system. If people don't feel they can effectuate the political process, they will begin to resist the legitimacy of government over them. They will question the rule of law as an instrument of arbitrary power rather than a fair arbiter.<br /><br />As for China, George Soros likes the way they do business... he has seen the future. China may have free enterprise for low rungs on the ladder, but make no mistake: there is no "free market" in China. It's an efficiency play: it is inefficient to try to control all trade of goods. The communist Chinese still control the commanding heights of the economy and direct foreign investment. Their system is rife with corruption at all levels, and this graft is increasingly disruptive as Chinese entrepreneurs hit the ceiling of socio-economic mobility. This is where traditional American exceptionalism can be a helpful guide, but our president and the cognitive elite doesn't believe in our exceptionalism anymore. They believe they alone are exceptional. It's why they look at the arc of history as a validation of their viewpoints. They are the anointed. <br /><br />The cognitive elite loves the Chinese model because they fantasize about how great everything will be when they have total control: a centralized political system run by "experts." The end game for these people is not freedom of the individual, but technocratic tinkering to create an idealized real life. Kind of like "The Truman Show." Their future vision of American democracy is more like a Wilsonian Frankenstein. I prefer our Franers' constitutionally-limited Federal republic, thank you. Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222603717128565302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-23233313968255827632016-08-16T06:44:47.073-07:002016-08-16T06:44:47.073-07:00Almost all the problems with America and Europe yo...Almost all the problems with America and Europe you list are not the result of democratic process but rather imposition by the elites, usually against the wishes of the majority.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com