Comment Re:The Senators Aren't (Score 1) 468
"Because we are a representative democracy, the majority should take precidence"?
Sorry, but that is not correct. The majority view takes precedence in a 'Direct Democratic' system as they had in ancient Greece where the citizens were allowed to vote on the legislation itself ( yes, I know not everyone qualified as a citizen but apart from that...).
Representative democracy is a sleight of hand. It creates the illusion of majority rule but in reality, you can only actually vote for your representative. Once in power, your 'representative' can pass what laws they like. It is quite possible for all the political parties to adopt the same or similar policies in which case, like it or not, if the politicians aims do not coincide with those of the majority in the population at large, then tough. The legislation gets through any way you vote, or even if you don't vote.
Don't kid yourself that you live in a true democracy, you don't. You live in what Margret Thatcher recently described as an 'Elective dictatorship', true, one which isn't quite a police state, but one which isn't very democratic either. Once every few years, you get to vote another dictatorial government into power and if you are lucky, some of their interests will coincide with your own.
The internet provides a mechanism to implement a directly democratic system with true majority rule, but don't expect any politician you are likely to meet to support such a scheme. It would take away their power and increase your own.
Now that kind of democracy would be worth fighting for, but I shan't be holding my breathe waiting for Mr Bush to start the crusade on this one.
Sorry, but that is not correct. The majority view takes precedence in a 'Direct Democratic' system as they had in ancient Greece where the citizens were allowed to vote on the legislation itself ( yes, I know not everyone qualified as a citizen but apart from that...).
Representative democracy is a sleight of hand. It creates the illusion of majority rule but in reality, you can only actually vote for your representative. Once in power, your 'representative' can pass what laws they like. It is quite possible for all the political parties to adopt the same or similar policies in which case, like it or not, if the politicians aims do not coincide with those of the majority in the population at large, then tough. The legislation gets through any way you vote, or even if you don't vote.
Don't kid yourself that you live in a true democracy, you don't. You live in what Margret Thatcher recently described as an 'Elective dictatorship', true, one which isn't quite a police state, but one which isn't very democratic either. Once every few years, you get to vote another dictatorial government into power and if you are lucky, some of their interests will coincide with your own.
The internet provides a mechanism to implement a directly democratic system with true majority rule, but don't expect any politician you are likely to meet to support such a scheme. It would take away their power and increase your own.
Now that kind of democracy would be worth fighting for, but I shan't be holding my breathe waiting for Mr Bush to start the crusade on this one.
