* Direct democracy is precisely what led to the destruction of Athens, in great part because of the fickleness of the decision in the Assembly and the impossibility of developing a coherent strategy when too many people make decisions.
* I don’t know enough about Switzerland and Ireland, but the Californian experiment has been a disaster. People keep passing resolutions to increase benefits and to cut taxes, the result being that it is impossible to govern and to plan for the long term.
* While it certainly would be good to “recalibrate political and economic power” it doesn’t follow that direct democracy would do that. The current extreme level of inequality, both in terms of wealth and of political power, in the US is a recent thing, which began with the Reagan “revolution.” Similarly, many western countries do not suffer from the same problems, certainly not to the same degree as the US. So I don’t see evidence that the problem is caused by lack of direct democracy, or that it would be resolved by it.
* The notion that “people are unlikely to vote for policies that impoverish themselves” has been shown time and again to be incorrect. See the current Trump administration.
* The notion that direct democracy is a self-correcting system, while representative democracy somehow is not, seems questionable at best.
* The idea that direct democracy would lead to strictly controlled finances is also very questionable. See the example of California above. Relatedly, the comment that “public projects and services might involve fewer bells and whistles” echoes the Trumpian notion that government services are a waste of money. Tell it to the people who are currently suffering because of deep cuts in those services.
* Nobody is “fixated” on regulation as a solution to every problem. But witness the environmental and health disaster currently unfolding in the US because Trump is eliminating regulations that held corporations responsible.
* “I’m not a fan of atheism” is a truly bizarre statement, implying, in context, that somehow atheists are less moral than other people. There is ample evidence that that’s simply a lie.
* “Reasonably enforce virtue”? Virtue isn’t the sort of thing that can, or should be, enforced.
A few comments:
* Direct democracy is precisely what led to the destruction of Athens, in great part because of the fickleness of the decision in the Assembly and the impossibility of developing a coherent strategy when too many people make decisions.
* I don’t know enough about Switzerland and Ireland, but the Californian experiment has been a disaster. People keep passing resolutions to increase benefits and to cut taxes, the result being that it is impossible to govern and to plan for the long term.
* While it certainly would be good to “recalibrate political and economic power” it doesn’t follow that direct democracy would do that. The current extreme level of inequality, both in terms of wealth and of political power, in the US is a recent thing, which began with the Reagan “revolution.” Similarly, many western countries do not suffer from the same problems, certainly not to the same degree as the US. So I don’t see evidence that the problem is caused by lack of direct democracy, or that it would be resolved by it.
* The notion that “people are unlikely to vote for policies that impoverish themselves” has been shown time and again to be incorrect. See the current Trump administration.
* The notion that direct democracy is a self-correcting system, while representative democracy somehow is not, seems questionable at best.
* The idea that direct democracy would lead to strictly controlled finances is also very questionable. See the example of California above. Relatedly, the comment that “public projects and services might involve fewer bells and whistles” echoes the Trumpian notion that government services are a waste of money. Tell it to the people who are currently suffering because of deep cuts in those services.
* Nobody is “fixated” on regulation as a solution to every problem. But witness the environmental and health disaster currently unfolding in the US because Trump is eliminating regulations that held corporations responsible.
* “I’m not a fan of atheism” is a truly bizarre statement, implying, in context, that somehow atheists are less moral than other people. There is ample evidence that that’s simply a lie.
* “Reasonably enforce virtue”? Virtue isn’t the sort of thing that can, or should be, enforced.
No. A solid no to most of this “intellectualism” that is just as bad and dangerous as the sophistry that she is trying to say was dangerous.
If democracy, a direct democracy is so great, why do almost all of them fail and devolve into mob rule and bodies torn asunder in the streets?
Also, see Socrates.