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The Language of Democracy

dissentmagazine.org

11–20 of 53 posts

Re: The Language of Democracy

#11
Also recommended: "The Language of the Third Reich" - the language of authoritarian fascism. It's scary to see aspects of it being used all around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTI_%E2%80%93_Lingua_Tertii_Im...

This is taught in German schools, but should be taught everywhere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTI_%E2%80%93_Lingua_Tertii_Im...

Re: The Language of Democracy

#12

Is democracy a good idea? Is it working out for India and Mexico and the rest of the middle-income countries? We're all supposed to love Democracy by default but ... I don't know anymore.

Government is a thing that forces everyone to follow their rules. You can’t opt in or opt out. On face value that’s extremely coercive and bad.

I think of democracy as a “good idea” being not necessarily about being the system that delivers the best governance outcomes, but rather about providing some measure of legitimacy for the coercion inherent to government.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#13
post #9
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people believe that every human is essentially equal to every other and has an equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that a government that represents the will of the people, even imperfectly, is preferable to a dictatorship. I don't know why you would say we're all supposed to love democracy "by default" as if there weren't centuries of history, philosophy and bloody conflict behind tha…

Many people say that. Revealed preference raises its head when it comes to the real world, and it turns out American interest is a better predictor.

Americans, despite their bellyaching, live in a democractic republic and can afford to indulge in romantic fantasies about benevolent dictatorships (as they often do about civil war and revolution,) while remaining safe from (edit:likely) ever having suffer their consequences. People who have actually lived under dictatorships, meanwhile, very rarely seem to recommend it over democracy.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#14
post #5

I very much agree with a lot of the conclusions. But the descriptions of experience, such as education just serving individual students whims, as opposed to providing rigorous knowledge of topics, I find completely counter to my personal experience. I went to university during the era or the writings, early 1980s. My course work in electrical engineering was very techincally rigorous. i got no credit for "radio progr…

I graduated in the early 2010s and mostly studying philosophy and gender studies. In my experience of that time period, these too were difficult courses requiring research and informed writing. Certainly, doing well at school required knowing the material and having something to say.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#15

From wikipedia's Christopher Lasch entry, here is a quote from his: ``` A feminist movement that respected the achievements of women in the past would not disparage housework, motherhood or unpaid civic and neighborly services. It would not make a paycheck the only symbol of accomplishment. ... It would insist that people need self-respecting honorable callings, not glamorous careers that carry high salaries but take…

> Feminists were not disparaging motherhood or unpaid work like if it was above them to do it.

Were? When are we talking about? This sounds like Lasch, in the 90s or maybe 80s, comparing 3rd wave feminism to 2nd wave feminism. However, now it sounds like he's critiquing 4th wave feminism, which is significantly more debased. I think you are talking past him either way, but it helps to be specific. Ultimately, your claims aren't contradicting his in my view.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#16

Is democracy a good idea? Is it working out for India and Mexico and the rest of the middle-income countries? We're all supposed to love Democracy by default but ... I don't know anymore.

> Is democracy a good idea? Yes, but being a periphery state in the neoliberal economic order is not.

Or, if one takes their example countries situation into account: corruption is bad, and corrosive to everything good.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#17
post #3

Is democracy a good idea? Is it working out for India and Mexico and the rest of the middle-income countries? We're all supposed to love Democracy by default but ... I don't know anymore.

You want a monarchy?

Personally, I've always believed the best form of government is an absolute monarchy headed by a benevolent monarch. The problem with that, of course, is benevolent monarchs are few and far between.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#19

Is democracy a good idea? Is it working out for India and Mexico and the rest of the middle-income countries? We're all supposed to love Democracy by default but ... I don't know anymore.

Democracy is a system of government, not an economic model. You could easily argue, simultaneously:

1. Capitalism has failed in those countries, even if in different times and places one could say capitalism has succeeded

2. India and Mexico have major issues with their democracies—if a democracy is a system of government in which the citizens of a state hold collective power over their government, then there are many obstacles preventing either country from having a well-functioning democracy.

I can sympathise with your feelings that the current global status-quo is failing many people—I would agree—and I would argue India and Mexico are great examples of how unchecked capitalism and authoritarianism are causing an active erosion of democracy (and standard of living) in those two countries.

Re: The Language of Democracy

#20

From wikipedia's Christopher Lasch entry, here is a quote from his: ``` A feminist movement that respected the achievements of women in the past would not disparage housework, motherhood or unpaid civic and neighborly services. It would not make a paycheck the only symbol of accomplishment. ... It would insist that people need self-respecting honorable callings, not glamorous careers that carry high salaries but take…

> Feminists were not disparaging motherhood or unpaid work like if it was above them to do it. Were? When are we talking about? This sounds like Lasch, in the 90s or maybe 80s, comparing 3rd wave feminism to 2nd wave feminism. However, now it sounds like he's critiquing 4th wave feminism, which is significantly more debased. I think you are talking past him either way, but it helps to be specific. Ultimately, your cl…

What do you think 4th wave feminism is?
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