Democracy: The God That Failed
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Bob_Robertson Apr 25, 2006 11:56 AM EDT |
Good article. I can suggest something that puts lots of this in a different context, the book "Democracy: The God That Failed" by Hanse Hermann Hoppe, professor of economics at UNLV. http://www.mises.org/misesreview_detail.asp?control=199 |
| hkwint Apr 25, 2006 2:23 PM EDT |
Really interesting stuff, though I would say I'm not really ready for the whole idea... |
| Bob_Robertson Apr 25, 2006 4:09 PM EDT |
Hoppe isn't really arguing in favor of monarchy, only that the priorities of "ownership" tend to apply more in that supposedly "outdated" system than they do in the "modern" democratic systems. It is interesting to note that the Greek "democracy" also had cycles, where when things got bad enough people "elected" a dictator to clean up the mess. Maybe they were just being more honest about it. Personally, I prefer an-archy. |
| jdixon Apr 25, 2006 5:36 PM EDT |
> Personally, I prefer an-archy. Well, my personal preference would be for a constitutional republic, but I seem to have been outvoted some time ago. :( |
| jimf Apr 25, 2006 6:38 PM EDT |
I agree with jdixon that a constitutional republic would be nice. In 1776 when the US was first formed, the population was mostly comprised of people with the same values, ethical and, religious +/- beliefs. As more and more people were absorbed into the nation, we can see rather clearly that the original constitutional republic starts to erode, until we arrive at the nearly unworkable situation we have today. Is it the nature of government to degrade? Is it a factor of the number of people involved? Or, is it that too much diversity of culture and values creates a situation where there can be no consensus? Darned if I know, but, what we now have is a far cry from anything the founding fathers ever planed or envisioned. Thomas Jefferson said "Every generation needs a new revolution". Perhaps that's the only solution. |
| salparadise Apr 25, 2006 10:22 PM EDT |
Quoting:Is it the nature of government to degrade? Yes. Every one there ever was has done. Though it might be more accurate to say "Is it in the nature of men to become corrupt and self-serving?" A rather wise Man once said "the love of money is the root of all evil" - a profound, if often misquoted phrase. We came up with our own non-financial version- "power corrupts". This is misleading. It would be more true to say "power attracts all the wrong people". In fact, in an ideal world, leaders would be press ganged from the ordinary citizenry and allowed a short term "in office" and anyone offering their services in a role of power should be tagged and NEVER allowed within 100 miles of it. |
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