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XiphosAletheria t1_j4nghyj wrote

Reply to comment by shockingdevelopment in Democracy is Only a Means to an End (Examining the Inherent Political Authority of Democracy) by contractualist

>You're missing the inherent virtue of democracy: it provides the maximum dispersion of power throughout a population, which matters because in a free society everyone should have an equal voice, virtually by definition.

Is this its main virtue, though? Or is it just that it gives people desperate for change a non-violent means of pursuing it, and people hungry for power a non-violent way of seeking it? Because I don't think high levels of social power equality is particularly characteristic of most democracies. Elon Musk has a wee bit more power than, say, your average janitor, despite living in a democracy.

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shockingdevelopment t1_j4nmba8 wrote

Since it's fundamental to a free society, It is (in my view) the main virtue.

> Musk

In more properly functioning democracies inequality isn't so egregious. I notice almost all criticisms of democracy are explained by a lack of actual democracy, which is encouraging as a democracy enthusiast.

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XiphosAletheria t1_j4o79an wrote

>In more properly functioning democracies inequality isn't so egregious.

I mean, most democracies have fairly high levels of inequality, and to the extent you seem to mean "free society" by "democracy" rather than "tyranny of the majority", economic inequality seems baked in - people are not equal, so any system that leaves people with a fair amount of economic freedom is going to end up reflecting that.

> I notice almost all criticisms of democracy are explained by a lack of actual democracy, which is encouraging as a democracy enthusiast.

Or you are no true scotsmanning it.

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shockingdevelopment t1_j4obsdi wrote

You can compress income so no one is living like an animal and also have the talented better off. Look at the Nordic model.

> Tyranny of the majority

As opposed to literally every other system which gives power to a smaller handful.

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