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ODE: Hobbesians?

Actually, this [mercifully] short editorial isn’t really too bad, but the first line struck me:

One of the harmful byproducts of democracy is that the selection of our leaders and lawmakers seems more like a horse race than a thoughtful, well-informed evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of various individuals.

I know I’m just being petty, but ennumerating that this is one harmful byproduct implies that there are others. What are they? Should we be ruled by Philosopher Kings instead? The world may never know.

There’s also this little gem from farther down:

It’s hard to justify the idea of a government accountable to the people when both candidates act so aloof and arrogant. All people make mistakes. Mature people admit them.

That’s classic coming from folks who think those who question them are ignorant and misinformed. Be kind to schizophrenics week indeed.

  1. Danimal says:

    I can be even more petty. There are at least two things seriously wrong with that analogy.

    1. How is the selection of our leaders like a horse race? Is the winner of a horse race the one that the most people bet on? No. The winner is the fastest horse, which leads us to flaw #2:

    2. Inasmuch as the fastest horse to wins the race, horse races are a damned good “evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of various individuals,” now that you mention it.

    How all this relates back to the “harmful byproducts of democracy,” I’m not sure. But if democracy is in any way like a horse race, I figure it’s better than, say, the owner of one horse murdering or imprisoning all the other horses. Which is how we used to play.

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