A challenge for democrats

[hmkpoker]

This is for (lowercase)democrats, that is, people who believe in democracy.

Democrats like the idea of equality under democracy. One person, one vote. It doesn't matter how wealthy, poor, smart or dumb you are, everyone gets an equal voting power. That's why the status quo hails it universally as a good idea, unlike monarchy where decisions are made exclusively by an elite few.

When confronted with the notion that one vote doesn't matter, most democrats are quick to point out that while one vote may not matter, there is much more that one person can do than simply cast one vote; by becoming active, demonstrating and discussing politics, one can get people on to his side, start a movement, and sway the course of politics. One person, undoubtedly, can make a difference.

There is a serious problem with this. Are we to understand that if person A, through rah-rahing for candidate X, persuades person B to vote for candidate X instead of candidate Y as he was going to, then it is unreasonable to conclude that each person's voting power is equal. People are not islands. We interact with other people and are influenced by them. While the votes may be equal, the influence is not...and that is a critical problem with democracy.

You know that your actions in an election do not matter. You are not going to change the direction of the election. The same cannot be said of the elite. The executives of FOX News and CNN, on the other hand, can spin coverage any way they want to, and cause a very significant shift in the election. Luckily for them, when they do, what appears is the voice of "the people," who are just mindless lemmings that do what they're told.

All democracy does is mask the complete and utter futility of the everyman by giving him a meaningless vote between two pre-selected candidates. The elite control it just as they did under monarchy; it's simply a very good illusion to make "the people" think they matter.

Why do you think George W. Bush wants to force Democracy on every part of the world?




If people were autonomous enough to actually decentralize the voting influence enough so that democracy could actually be considered egalitarian, they would be too smart to have any use for democracy.