Democracy is as Much a Failure As Socialism

[JUICE]

Democracy - sure it sounds good in theory, but it doesn't actually work in practice. The ballot box is perhaps the greatest collective right ever bestowed upon the people of the world, but it is also the greatest responsibility. Unfortunately, that responsibility has been cavalierly tossed aside in favor of bribes and corruption, asinine policy decisions, and that pesky notion of innate human selfishness. Collectively, people simply cannot be trusted to guide their government in a productive direction with the least amount of intrusion. Government has such tremendous cash cow potential and the selfishness, the greediness in people cannot let it alone... ever.

Perhaps I'm being a bit hard on the inert corruptibility of people. Maybe it's that the masses are too far removed from actual policy. Voters don't vote on policy, after all - they pool together and support various candidates to draft and enact laws on their behalf. Rallying behind a person, instead of policy, leads to all sorts of intended, almost unbelievable side effects. We have two parties that do not differ in any meaningful way... we have voters who decide on the direction of the entire country based upon meaningless single non-issues like abortion, gay marriage, or wanting to bring troops home early from a war. If democracy functioned well in practice these issues would be replaced with things like government's role in the everyday activities of citizens, government's interventionist role abroad, or high level foreign policy.

On the other hand, if people were more involved in policy decisions, it's conceivable we could have such things as national ice dream Saturdays, or free money Tuesday... and, sadly, that's not too far removed from what we have now.

Socialism fails because it cannot plan as effectively as the free market, it cannot motivate because it does not play into greed. Democracy fails because it DOES motivate, but motivates in a way that makes effective planning laughable. Indeed it actually motivates POOR planning... regulations/planning are usually not inept by nature, they are inept by design. Sensible policy making dies once people realize they can influence policy in a way advantageous to themselves.... selfishness. Greed channels through this selfishness in enacting flawed laws, regulations, and expanding government's role to monetarily benefit a few, at the expense of most.

The democratization of selfishness and greed are now an undeniable, abject failure. Unfortunately, this is what democracy is in practice.

[Car'a'carn]

Simple comparison between democracies and socialist countries would show you that the democracy is better, much better. If you think its a failure, you also need a plan to change it to something else.

[vtek]

i somewhat agree, although i would submit that neither democracy nor socialism work even in theory, if you consider things like psychology/human nature, nor are they exclusive of each other.

[FormLetter]

Well a democratic government with checks such that it can't become swollen with money avoids the greed issue far more than our current government. People can't buy what isn't in the store.

[Baron Von Raschke]

The United States isn't supposed to be a democracy.

[JUICE]

Originally Posted by Car'a'carn

Simple comparison between democracies and socialist countries would show you that the democracy is better, much better. If you think its a failure, you also need a plan to change it to something else.

Democracy, masquerading as free markets nearly collapsed the world's economy. Countries have failed... only being artificially propped up by the corrupt democratic regime that got them there.

Democracy can work if a 'reset' button exists when the inevitable corruption becomes too great. Unfortunately, this is not how government works.

The way I see it, there are two major options:

One is a truly democratic system on local scales, with little to no large, centralized government. Like-minded people can at least more easily pool together in this case.

The other is accepting the possibility that we, as a race, are a failure, incapable of governing ourselves or others. In this case, I think no government is better than any.

Originally Posted by Baron Von Raschke

The United States isn't supposed to be a democracy.

See theory vs practice distinction, thanks. China isn't a true communist regime either. Silly strawmen...

[FormLetter]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Raschke

The United States isn't supposed to be a democracy.

That's a good point. Our application of a democratic republic at the federal level isn't that far off from what a democracy would look like...at least at that level. Probably state level too.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by Car'a'carn

Simple comparison between democracies and socialist countries would show you that the democracy is better, much better. If you think its a failure, you also need a plan to change it to something else.

Define "better".

[cubedbee]

Originally Posted by JUICE

The other is accepting the possibility that we, as a race, are a failure, incapable of governing ourselves or others. In this case, I think no government is better than any.

This. Government is inherently a way for the elite to leach off the populace.

[vtek]

problem number one with democracy:

majority of people are idiots and democracy is majority rule, hence policy is chosen by idiots