390
The history of electoralism (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/memes@lemmy.ml
81 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
Greek philosophers in 300 BC: Hey, so electoralism is a rigged game, because only wealthy and prestigious families have enough money to finance the popularity contest to get themselves or their puppet candidates elected. Marxists in the 1800s: Electoralism is a rigged game. Capitalists stack every election with their puppets. Political power is subservient to economic power. Liberals in the 2020s: No, electoralism has never worked. But it might work for us this time.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 2 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Democracy has as a necessary precondition that people are intelligent enough to differentiate good candidates from bad candidates.

The real question therefore is whether the people are intelligent enough. That decides their fate.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    I think your capacity to think is irrelevant or even played against you when the elites pour obscene amounts of money to change your perception of reality. Even the greatest minds can't escape this.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    I feel like the belief that intelligence somehow grants immunity to propaganda has utterly devastated media literacy and subsequently our political landscape.

    When people started taking memes and blogs as legitimate sources of information we were cooked.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I would replace intelligent with well educated, at least

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I have come to dislike the word "education" as it refers to plato's cave analogy in such a way that somebody else leads you out of it.

    "Education" is therefore not something that you do yourself, but that somebody else does on you. It is therefore objectifying and puts the humans in a passive position.

    Meanwhile, "insight" or "inspiration" is something that you do yourself as it is you who brings up the interest to learn something. Therefore it is a much better word.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah I kind of didn't like that word as I was writing it. Similar to how "tutoring" literally means to "straighten" or basically to inculcate to normativity.

    Meanwhile, “insight” or “inspiration” is something that you do yourself [...]

    Good edit, this is a better word choice.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)
    [deleted]
  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    If such discussion takes place – an increasingly rare thing – there is no need to individually ”differentiate good candidates from bad candidates” and each voter’s intelligence certainly isn’t of consequence. In a functioning democracy, who to vote for, should follow naturally from your participation in public discourse.

    yeah that's what i meant. still, people have to be engaged in a way that i don't see them being engaged in. And that's still the central issue, i'd say.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
    • load more comments (-1 replies)