@ZoidbergForPresident @reay @ProPublica

so we better fucking vote

Voting (democracy) assumes that the average person is intelligent enough to make a sensible decision.

This assumption might be false, especially in countries with a sub standard education level, or countries flooded by disinformation.

This is how we got where we are now.

@FransVeldman @reay @ZoidbergForPresident @ProPublica

so what's the other options?

when you answer that question, i expect you to come back with full throated support for democracy

if you can't, you really haven't thought through the problem

a sick democracy needs to be healed, fixed. not abandoned

we can't question democracy itself, because the other options are far worse

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Governing a country shouldn’t have to be any different from governing a company or an industry.

Do we vote among patients who is going to be entitled to yield the scalpel in the operation room? Do we vote among the airplane passengers who’s going to be their pilot in command? We already know that would going to be a disaster. Instead, everyone in the surgery room and cockpit is required to have the relevant education, and be screened for psychological features such as a proper balance between being decisive and cooperative, and be ruled out if any psychological features are found that are not compatible with being in charge with the safety of a few hundred passengers.

Why would we have to allow any politicians who don’t have a relevant education and have obvious psychological defects? Why can’t we just select politicians on their suitability for their job?

Why do we have a high court with judges, but not a high counsel which is seated by leading scientists, whom can block any regulations that harm our planet?

Democratus (the founder of “democracy”) never intended the voting proces to be participated by literally everyone, but only among the well educated.

If you were an alien, how would you look upon a governing system where the word of a highly educated climate scientists can be nullified by any nitwit? Especially while it is safe to assume that the nitwits outnumber the scientists? Would you be surprised that this planet turned into a big smoking mess?

Although I just like to pinpoint why the world turned into such a big mess, and don’t feel I have to provide a solution just to be qualified to point it out, I can imagine some ways to improve on this.

There are options, like answering a short questionare on the voting form, to show that at least you know the program of the candidate you vote for. If you don’t even know his/her policies, your vote is invalid. At least, this blocks any votes from people who don’t understand what they are voting for. Tell me why that wouldn’t make sense. Another option is to weigh votes based on a mix of education, society contribution, etc. The more you know, the more you care for your fellow humans, the heigher the weight of your vote.

Again, there might be other and better solutions, but I’m not the one who has to find them, just to be qualified to point out the problem.

The current concept of “democracy” is invented by capitalists, for capitalist, because they know that this will keep them in control. There is a reason why the government consists mainly by economists, billionaires, etc. It is not a coincidence that America has always been very aggressive in “installing democracy” in other countries.

This concept of democracy has been forced fed to us during our entire lifes, and has become to many as some sort of religion. It is the best and not worth any rethinking, right? And reject anyone who questions it as if it is a blasphemy.

You might disagree with (some of) what I have said. But I hope that at least we can agree that the world is a big smoking mess and that democracy doesn’t seem to be able to achieve a sustainable, safe live for all human beings.

@FransVeldman @reay @ZoidbergForPresident @ProPublica

i don't disagree with anything you said

the issue isn't that you can envision a better democracy, a vision i agree with

the issue is *how* we get there

and how we get there is through participating in the current shit show

some have an allergy to this. that doing so is corrupting their soul or some other immature melodramatic bs

so many go "it's not perfect, so i prefer to not vote and let us slide into fascism"

that's the problem

@benroyce
Ben, I think we need to encourage people to think more like performance artists. You have to riff with the material you’ve been given. We have a long-running script and we all still have to perform with it; the innovation and the artistry comes from how you syncopate and harmonize within the set rhythm and melody. Think of the best jazz combo you’ve ever heard. You could start off with a car alarm as the inspiration, and those musicians will turn it into a dynamic evolving whirlwind of music.

Another way of thinking about it: “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a future time” - Donald Rumsfeld, god help me for quoting that guy.
@FransVeldman @reay @ZoidbergForPresident @ProPublica

@suzannealdrich @FransVeldman @reay @ZoidbergForPresident @ProPublica

i love this analogy

i will hold it against you for reminding me of donald rumsfeld though 😆 (just kidding)