• Stephen Hamish Darby@mastodon.au
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    6 days ago

    @naevaTheRat @Zagorath I think the Westminster system is designed for exactly that purpose. It was invented to separate powers and stop various denominations from flogging each other. Democracy is served when the greater number decide, even when they’re wrong.

    • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 days ago

      I think you’re ascribing too much benign intention to something which was realistically the result of a complex power struggle between monarchs, nobles, intellectual elites, and a new class of merchants/financiers where everyone was trying to use everyone else to fuck everyone else in their favour and riling up the proles as needed.

      It’s not some planned genius system carefully crafted for utmost morality. It’s a way for rich business owners to get a slice of the pie normally reserved for nobles while offering enough compromises/threat of revolt to keep the smaller but culturally and militarily powerful class of old money happy enough.

      Your participation as a prole is highly limited, you are basically unable, short of mass violence, to hold anyone accountable for any particular decision; you are not allowed to force certain things to even be discussed or debated. It is not a system made for you to participate in, it is a system where you have some (extremely limited) participation because your class of people were a piece on someone else’s board.

      Compared to actual democratic institutions which work by consensus and direct representation, or representation at the continued will of a consensus body it is a joke. It does not require your consent, and what little privilege you have does not extent to any practical considerations in your life (housing, work etc) which remain dictatorial.

      Dream bigger dude.

        • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 days ago

          what do you mean? Any number of things… The system you have with your friends to decide who hosts the next movie night, your community astronomy club annual meeting, your Union, idk what are you involved in? What is this question even? Democratic decision making is as old as time and as varied as the seasons.

          • Stephen Hamish Darby@mastodon.au
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            4 days ago

            @naevaTheRat democratic decision making doesn’t mean you all get what you want. To the extent that government is democratic - to that extent we submit ourselves to the will of the people. Quite often having to abide by decisions we don’t agree with. Often our elected representatives are Slaves to compromise and party policy.
            I thought you could give an example of a government sized democracy doing better.

            • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              4 days ago

              Don’t put words in my mouth, democracy has nothing to do with getting what you want is has to do with participation and voice in the decision making process.

              We have almost no representation in government, no choice as to whether or not we are bound by it, we have no democracy at work, deciding economic priorities anything like that.

              You’ve been told you live in a democracy but aside from being told that what evidence is there that you do? Can you even fire the government? Your boss? Do you really have a voice?

              here’s a Democratic government.

              https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation

              • Stephen Hamish Darby@mastodon.au
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                4 days ago

                @naevaTheRat violent overthrow is one way of changing government. Conservative forces can also stage a coup. Once the new government has power, what then? Appoint ourself as the head of secret police. Then we are back at the start. Just different people being oppressed. I confess my outlook is far more menshevik and gradual. Apologist really. A gradual conservative coup seems to be under way in Australia.

                  • Stephen Hamish Darby@mastodon.au
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                    4 days ago

                    @naevaTheRat Not really familiar with the Zapatista movement. “Can you even fire the government?” Was your question. What is the point of having ideal governance if it can be fired? You are correct in that we vote seldom for a party rather than for policy. I am not sure anarchy is a great alternative