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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (124026)	1/30/2004 3:39:38 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Nadine, democracy is not my idea of a good way to run a railroad. We have professionals in jobs so that specialists can study tricky things and come up with good ideas. The mob all too often crushes the individual and steals their property. I just need to come up with a better idea, which is tricky. Say we had referenda, would the engineering standards for 100 storey buildings be set by a vote? Would approval of pharmaceuticals as valid treatments be decided by vote? Would trials be decided by anyone who could be bothered logging on and voting guilty or not guilty? Maybe it would be a good idea. Most people wouldn't vote. Maybe it would get better outcomes than the current opaque world of political intrigue, bribery and corruption, self-interest and bureaucratic stupidity. <You should not consult the people and actually let them decide because they might choose the wrong answer. The purpose of elections is to permit the people to rubber-stamp what their rulers have already decided, thus making the people feel as if they participated in the decision – even though they didn't really. Ms. Antonsen is referred to as a "Liberal", but her opinion sharply diverges from what has traditionally been known as "liberal democracy". It is yet another demonstration of the way that modern "Liberals" are deeply illiberal.> I'd like to have a lot more referenda and get the whole idea going on things which are not too contentious, such as whether, crash helmets on bicycles should be required, whether dope should be legalized, whether a speed limit on a particular road should be increased. So we Liberals are turning into the right-wingers? This is Alice in Wonderland stuff. Words mean what people want them to mean. Lots of voting is a good thing in my book, but it could be bad for minority interests and individuals. A mob is a very scary thing. Mqurice