Damien Broderick wrote:
>
> At 05:56 PM 12/11/00 -0800, samantha wrote:
>
> >In a pure democracy the majority can violate any and all rights
> >of the individual when and if it wants to. ...A "perfect" democracy is
> perfectly horrid.
>
> Well, the accepted word for the system you pillory is an ochlocracy - mob
> rule.
>
> The implication is that people en masse are likely to abandon all decency
> and history and respect for each other, a rather strange opinion in a list
> where the market (a device for summing the expressed values of all players)is held in highest regard. True, most markets are highly asymmetrical in
> the purchasing power of different individuals, so if it's thought to lead
> to a superior outcome than ochlocratic summations presumably the richer you
> are the more moral, decent, thoughtful, prudent, insightful, just, kindly
> and so on you are as well.
The problem with the market analogy is that it is not a Bayesian market. Not
only are most people incapable of accurately determining the true 'value' of
their own opinions, but they are systematically lied to by both candidates and
the media as to the 'value' of the candidate's opinions, and are under constant
attack by 'opinion theives' in the media, special interest groups, and political
parties who try to manipulate people's thinking. So a democratic system is a
good example of an anti-Bayesian market.
>
> Look at it another way: If `In a pure democracy the majority can violate
> any and all rights of the individual when and if it wants to', in any other
> system some minority can violate any and all rights of the individual when
> and if it wants to. I guess it depends on how much respect you have for the
> other humans out there. My own opinion varies. (As I once put it, call me
> Pelagius of Hippo.)
There is a difference between respecting most of your fellow citizens, and
respecting that small minority of incorrigibly corrupt power mongers who will do
and say anthing to attain power.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:21 MDT