Friday, June 20, 2014

The Dogma of Democracy


"Democracy has its faults, because people have their faults. Like owner, like store." Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

The Dogma of Democracy doesn't always make the world better:

The break-up of the Soviet empire and the “shock therapy” that followed it produced new oligarchies and kleptocracies that have at their disposal innovative tools of finance and communication; the advance of political Islam has placed millions of Muslims, who make up a quarter of the world’s population, under more restrictive theocratic rule; tribes, clans, and sectarian groups have become the most important actors in the post-colonial states of Africa and the Middle East; China has brought back despotic mercantilism.

A good, albeit somewhat long read can be found here: The Truth About Our Libertarian Age, Mark Lilla

Our hubris is to think that we no longer have to think hard or pay attention or look for connections, that all we have to do is stick to our “democratic values” and economic models and faith in the individual and all will be well.  

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