They say the brain is where our consciousness exists, what we actually are. But I think it’s suspicious that we only have the brain’s opinion on that.
Hot take but i agree with Plato on the first half. People are too dumb, blind, and easily manipulated for a democracy.
But obviously a benevolent, kind, and uncoercible king with the interests of the people at heart is not realistic.I dont have a solution. 🤷♂️
When you think about it, it’s pretty unreasonable to expect the entire population to become educated and engaged about everything involving running a modern society. Modern government is incredibly complicated. It’s no wonder that tribalism wins over nuance. Who has time for nuance when they’re worried about their jobs and families?
That’s why I’d like to see some form of sortition tried. Draft a jury to do nothing but learn about a single topic for a period of time. Make all of their contact with the outside world public record to ensure nothing shady is going on. Let representatives from all sides of the issue address them. Then let them make their decisions and go back to their normal lives. No campaign donors or political careers to worry about.
In order for that to happen we all first need to chill. Most people’s lives are just too hectic due to the strain the system puts on them.
“Democracy is the worst system of government, except for all the others”
I still can’t find a way to disprove this statement. Popular vote inherently favors the majority as opposed to minorities and only cares about charisma. And yet, nothing else seems to beat it.
The only one I could think of is putting in a guy/AI that’s really benevolent and competent this time guys I pinky swear.
I could see an AI being up to the task. At least with such an artificial system, you can hard-code guardrails and a constitution that a parliament can agree upon.
Of course, I wouldn’t want current LLM-based AI anywhere near the reigns of power. Such a system would need to have proven itself secure and incorruptible over decades before we put it in power.
I’m still rooting for benevolent aliens stepping in, telling humanity it’s not capable of self care, and forcing us to clean up the planet so we can live on it as a wildlife preserve.
what about consensus systems? instead of going for a majority, u discuss different solutions until everyone is satisfied or at least ok with the proposed plan
Kinda what congress is right now because of filibusters; and like congress they would be paralyzed and ineffective once there’s some polarity.
i mean, good point. so what if u have a vote to kick someone for stalling or filibustering?
Funny enough, the original Greek meaning of “idiot” was not a dumb person, but a “private” person who keeps to themselves and refuses to take part in politics. So, this usage is correct.
JFF: In Germany we have ‘vollidiot’ and ‘fachidiot’.
Hover-over text of ExistentialComics’ comic:
Some people have called Plato the first totalitarian thinker, but if you look at what Democracy is producing these days it’s hard to not think he had a bit of a point…
And text beneath comic:
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As for Plato, he criticized democracy heavily, claiming that it gave people too much freedom, and if anyone could be elected by the ignorant masses, it would be too possible for selfish people who only wanted power and wealth to get into power. Democracy, ironically, would inevitably lead to tyranny and demagogues. He thought a better system would be for the wisest, most virtuous, and most selfless people to govern society, which of course would be philosophers like himself. How this system was immune to corruption is a little unclear to me, but given what’s going on with democracies lately you can probably at least say he has some good points.
I like the attention to detail that they did Plato as a beefcake.
Republican, to the core…
He’s right though. People are stupid and panderer dictaror wannabes continuously get what they want in democracies because people are too dumb to see whats happening
That is bullshit. He is not right.
And what is happening right now in the US? And in the Netherlands? And Canada? And has been happening in the UK for decades?