points by joshblack1982 1 day ago | 0 comments
No, the country shouldn't be held hostage by a small group of agitators. They can vote like the rest of the country, and if they don't convince enough people to join their cause then they should suck it up and try to be more convincing.
[–] ctmlr 1 day ago
Liberal democracy sounds nice in theory but it doesn't work in practice. Like it or not populism is a powerful force that must be reckoned with, always has always will.
[–] thomassmith65 1 day ago
Liberal democracy works fine in that it makes people less miserable than the alternatives, but there are many other sources of misery from which it can't protect a society. It takes more than a good system of government for things to 'work'.
[–] ctmlr 1 day ago
I don't believe there is enough historical evidence to make such a bold claim, it could just be a phase for all we know.
What it couldn't protect us from is becoming infiltrated by a foreign government, and that's a pretty basic function of any government, so I think y'all need to humble yourselves.
[–] thomassmith65 1 day ago
The claim is that it makes a person happier to have a say in who governs their society, and the freedom to believe and express what they want, as long as it doesn't hurt their neighbor.
That is not a bold take.
A feature of democracy is that a majority can set the course of their society by voting.
A feature of liberalism is that a minority can attempt to become a majority by argument.
If there were a nefarious foreign power pulling the strings of my Western-style democracy (which, where I live, would be an unhinged belief), I'd use my vote and my voice to oppose it, not jettison the vote nor jettison my rights.
We didn't have an equivalent election here yet.