[LINK] Direct-Technocratic Party

[David Boxall]

On 31/08/2010 10:22 AM, Birch, Jim wrote:
> ...
> As I see it, there's no clear method for determining which members of
> the public are qualified to vote unless you require a formal
> qualification of expertise.  (Which, mind you, I'd be just about willing
> to go with.)
>
> This proposal suffers from the classic unsubstantiated conceit of
> democracy, that things will be great if we could only make choices about
> them.  The primary problem with this proposal is voter stupidity;
Who was it who said that the best argument against democracy is a five 
minute conversation with the average voter?

> the second major problem is that it would be taken over in minutes by
> special interest groups who are typically self-interested and dishonest,
> and often stupid as well.
>
> Surely, the object of the political system should be to make good
> decisions, not to offer people relentless choices about things they
> don't understand (so they respond emotionally.)  If you think about our
> great institutions - eg, the independent court system, the education
> system, universities, CSIRO - you will notice that they have a firstly a
> prosocial mission and tradition, and, secondly, that they are allowed to
> apply their expertise without every idiot putting in their 2 cents.
> Suppose CSIRO's research agenda was set by a public vote, or interest
> rates were set by voters: it wouldn't work.  Independent bodies - like
> central banks, courts, and the like - can't be guaranteed to always make
> good decisions but they are a dead cert to make better decisions more
> reliably than Joe Average in TV land.  Democratic oversight is desirable
> but extreme democracy is a recipe for disaster.
Has an extreme of anything ever been known to work?
>
> We are all programmed with the belief "I know better than you" by our
> biology, but that doesn't make it true, it just makes it seem true.
>
> - Jim
>
> Further reading, funny or scary: Greetings from Idiot America
> http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0207GREETINGS#
>
> or, in short form, there's the H L Mencken quote:
>
> As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and
> more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious
> day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last
> and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
> ...

Representative democracy leads to fewer people making decisions. That 
minimises the total national investment of time and effort in the 
process. It also gives the rest of us someone to blame. :)

-- 
David Boxall                    |  In a hierarchical organization,
                                |  the higher the level,
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  the greater the confusion.
                                |                     --Dow's Law.