Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
If they’re not in the majority and get voted own, then that’s democracy at work. And if Gondek and supporters of the re-zoning pass their measures, and then get turfed by angry voters next election, that’s democracy at work too.
The point I’m trying to make is that there’s a difference between:
* I don’t like the policies that politician/party brought in so I’m going to vote against them next election.
And
* Not only that politcian/party, but our institutions, bureaucracy, and apparatus of state are all operating contrary to popular will. So I’m going to vote someone in who will burn the whole thing down.
I interpret the polls showing declining trust in government to mean that the latter sentiment is growing in Canada. And well-meaning, smart people are throwing gas on the fire when they come out and say the public is too ignorant to be trusted with having a say in policy. You can win a lot of battles over public policy while gradually losing the war over government legitimacy.
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Yeah yeah yeah, you keep saying it's a problem and nobody's argued otherwise. You keep avoiding answering my/UCB's question:
what do you do to combat it?
If you have a group of voters who believe that "popular will"—
their will—is not being followed... then what? You keep saying "well-meaning smart people shouldn't say that these populists are ignorant because it'll just alienate them more", so... what should they do, then?
As I see it, there are two options:
1) let them have their way, or,
2) don't let them have their way
You're saying 2) is a problem, so... 1) it is? Lest those populists get so mad they tear the democratic system down? Frankly, as I see it, if you let them have their way you're already letting them tear down the democratic system. You know what that's called, when populists overthrow democracy? Fascism.
So as far I'm concerned: #### 'em.