Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Democracy
I find it juicily ironic that the winners in Iraq's recent elections were Islamic fundamentalists. Or haven't you heard, among all the hype about what a success they were, that we've managed to turn Saddam Hussein's secular country into a theocracy, and their theology doesn't put Jesus in the number one slot?
Democracy is a great idea, but it has one flaw. There's a brilliant quote which, best as I can determine, comes from Ron Tavel: "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
And, he added: "Liberty is two wolves attempting to have a sheep for dinner and finding a well informed, well armed sheep."
The problem is, while Democracy is a wonderful, wondeful idea, it relies on a society that values three things in order to succeed: education, creativity and tolerance.
Democracy without liberty is useless; liberty without democracy is anarchy. Not that anarchy is a bad thing, but its charms would die for most people the first time the DSL or cable went out and they realized they'd have to fix it themselves.
That statement is only partly facetious.
Somewhere over the past two hundred twenty-nine years, something has happened in this country. The populace has become increasingly stupid, less cultured and intolerant.
Pop quiz: How many senators are there? How many states? How many branches of government, and what are they? For what is the Judiciary responsible, and who are they? The Executive, and who are they? The Legislature, and who are they? How often are presidential elections held, and for whom do you vote in such elections? Who are your senators? Your state senators? Your governor? Your local representative? What is the name for the first ten amendments to the Constitution? How many amendments are there? Who published the general and special theories of Relativity? In what year did a man first walk on the moon? How many presidents have been impeached, and who were they? What was the Fairness Doctrine and when did it end? What was significant about the Brown vs. The Board of Education decision? Who was Rosa Parks? What happened at the event commonly known as Stonewall, and in what year did it happen? Who won American Idol last year? In what year did the Korean War end? True or False: Lincoln freed the slaves. True or False: America was founded as a Christian Republic. True or False: "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust" have always been part of, respectively, the Pledge of Allegiance and American Currency.
That's part one on why Democracy in America is failing, more to follow. My point in this installment: Democracy is not possible when the voters are ignorant. Oh, sure -- they can go to the polls and vote. But if they don't have the intelligence or information in order to make an informed decision, does it matter? Might as well give monkeys darts and let them toss away.
We couldn't get worse results than we did last November...
Answers: 100. 50. 3: Executive, Judicial, Legislative. Interpretation of the law; the Supreme Court. Enacting the law; the President and his cabinet. Writing the law; the Congress, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. Every four years; you vote for electors from your state, who vote for the president and vice president. Your answers will vary; mine are Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. Mine is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cindy Gruehl; again, your answers will vary. The Bill of Rights. 27, the last one passed in 1992. Albert Einstein. Three: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton -- although Nixon weenied out of it by resigning. It stated that, for any political viewpoint presented on network TV, free and equal time had to be given to the opposition; it was phased out under Ronald Reagan. It ended school segregation based on race. She was a black woman who refused to move to the back of the bus, leading to the Montgomery Transit strikes and, ultimately, the success of the civil rights movement. Patrons of a New York City gay bar refused to submit to police blackmail anymore, and started a riot that began the modern gay rights movement; the year was 1969. I have no fucking idea, and I don't care. The Korean War has yet to end. Mostly false: Lincoln only freed the slaves in the states that succeeded; slavery remained in effect in the Union. False; George Washington himself said, "In no way is the United States founded as a Christian Republic." False; the former was added to the pledge in the 50s, the latter to the money in the 30s, around the time the Gold Standard ended.
Democracy is a great idea, but it has one flaw. There's a brilliant quote which, best as I can determine, comes from Ron Tavel: "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
And, he added: "Liberty is two wolves attempting to have a sheep for dinner and finding a well informed, well armed sheep."
The problem is, while Democracy is a wonderful, wondeful idea, it relies on a society that values three things in order to succeed: education, creativity and tolerance.
Democracy without liberty is useless; liberty without democracy is anarchy. Not that anarchy is a bad thing, but its charms would die for most people the first time the DSL or cable went out and they realized they'd have to fix it themselves.
That statement is only partly facetious.
Somewhere over the past two hundred twenty-nine years, something has happened in this country. The populace has become increasingly stupid, less cultured and intolerant.
Pop quiz: How many senators are there? How many states? How many branches of government, and what are they? For what is the Judiciary responsible, and who are they? The Executive, and who are they? The Legislature, and who are they? How often are presidential elections held, and for whom do you vote in such elections? Who are your senators? Your state senators? Your governor? Your local representative? What is the name for the first ten amendments to the Constitution? How many amendments are there? Who published the general and special theories of Relativity? In what year did a man first walk on the moon? How many presidents have been impeached, and who were they? What was the Fairness Doctrine and when did it end? What was significant about the Brown vs. The Board of Education decision? Who was Rosa Parks? What happened at the event commonly known as Stonewall, and in what year did it happen? Who won American Idol last year? In what year did the Korean War end? True or False: Lincoln freed the slaves. True or False: America was founded as a Christian Republic. True or False: "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust" have always been part of, respectively, the Pledge of Allegiance and American Currency.
That's part one on why Democracy in America is failing, more to follow. My point in this installment: Democracy is not possible when the voters are ignorant. Oh, sure -- they can go to the polls and vote. But if they don't have the intelligence or information in order to make an informed decision, does it matter? Might as well give monkeys darts and let them toss away.
We couldn't get worse results than we did last November...
Answers: 100. 50. 3: Executive, Judicial, Legislative. Interpretation of the law; the Supreme Court. Enacting the law; the President and his cabinet. Writing the law; the Congress, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. Every four years; you vote for electors from your state, who vote for the president and vice president. Your answers will vary; mine are Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. Mine is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cindy Gruehl; again, your answers will vary. The Bill of Rights. 27, the last one passed in 1992. Albert Einstein. Three: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton -- although Nixon weenied out of it by resigning. It stated that, for any political viewpoint presented on network TV, free and equal time had to be given to the opposition; it was phased out under Ronald Reagan. It ended school segregation based on race. She was a black woman who refused to move to the back of the bus, leading to the Montgomery Transit strikes and, ultimately, the success of the civil rights movement. Patrons of a New York City gay bar refused to submit to police blackmail anymore, and started a riot that began the modern gay rights movement; the year was 1969. I have no fucking idea, and I don't care. The Korean War has yet to end. Mostly false: Lincoln only freed the slaves in the states that succeeded; slavery remained in effect in the Union. False; George Washington himself said, "In no way is the United States founded as a Christian Republic." False; the former was added to the pledge in the 50s, the latter to the money in the 30s, around the time the Gold Standard ended.
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