For Hannah Arendt, totalitarianism is rooted in loneliness

Post by triceratops » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 9:22 PM UTC

mikem170 wrote: post #79

triceratops wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why the need to defend this hot mess and everything it does as democratic, when technically it is not? If we're arguing technicalities, the US is "technically" a type of democracy - specifically a representative democracy. If we go by your more exacting standards every government decision, ordinance, or law except those by referenda isn't democratic. Which is neither technically correct, nor is it correct as genera…

I see where you are coming from, but I still object. Based on all the problems in our system I don't know that the U.S. deserves to be called a democracy, unless the word has lost much of its meaning. Candidates are effectively preselected via funding by .02% of the population before people can vote, and gerrymandering districts is rampant so that political parties are selecting voters, instead of the other way aroun…

> Would you say that things like that make the U.S. a de jure democracy, also?

I mean 2 choices is more than 1, which is usually the case in Russia. Could the US be more democratic? Certainly. Does it have 0 democracy? I don't think so.

Post by mikem170 » Fri, Jan 22, 2021, 1:15 AM UTC

triceratops wrote: post #81

mikem170 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see where you are coming from, but I still object. Based on all the problems in our system I don't know that the U.S. deserves to be called a democracy, unless the word has lost much of its meaning. Candidates are effectively preselected via funding by .02% of the population before people can vote, and gerrymandering districts is rampant so that political parties are selecting voters, instead of the other way aroun…

> Would you say that things like that make the U.S. a de jure democracy, also? I mean 2 choices is more than 1, which is usually the case in Russia. Could the US be more democratic? Certainly. Does it have 0 democracy? I don't think so.

You make a good point. I appreciate the discussion.

This has been an interesting rabbit hole. I just took a look at democracy ratings, comparing different countries over time. I'm still reading about Switzerland, how it works, the pros and cons, etc.

Back to the original post in this thread, implying that governments were being totalitarian with lockdowns, and the reply saying that these governments were democracies... I would now say that being a democracy doesn't mean leaders couldn't implement totalitarian measures (using the term loosely), but it should be easier for a population to change course in a democracy than otherwise.

Re: For Hannah Arendt, totalitarianism is rooted in loneliness

Re: For Hannah Arendt, totalitarianism is rooted in loneliness