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Are we moving from democracy to aristocracy?

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
There is an argument that recognized democracies are evolving towards aristocratic regimes.
I'm inclined to agree. What do you think?
 

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
There is an argument that recognized democracies are evolving towards aristocratic regimes.
I'm inclined to agree. What do you think?
They are not evolving towards that. Representative governments are always under threat of a takeover, but aristocracy is more unstable than representative government. The reason its more unstable is that it is unjust, so at every turn there is a new life & death scramble for power. In representative governments there is faith in the justice of government. If someone were truly more divine than other people then aristocracy could work, but no one is. The aristocrats inevitably will begin to abuse their positions, undermine the sovereignty of their governments and cause general havoc. Representative government will remain attractive with its long history going back thousands of years. So whenever there is aristocracy it actually is part of evolution towards representative government not the other way around.
 

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Who would our nobles be?
Well yours would include the Bush and Clinton families. Mine included a whole plethora of families who've been running the place in line with their best interests since the birth of the state. Dail Eireann is full of family dynasties.
 

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
They are not evolving towards that. Representative governments are always under threat of a takeover, but aristocracy is more unstable than representative government. The reason its more unstable is that it is unjust, so at every turn there is a new life & death scramble for power. In representative governments there is faith in the justice of government. If someone were truly more divine than other people then aristocracy could work, but no one is. The aristocrats inevitably will begin to abuse their positions, undermine the sovereignty of their governments and cause general havoc. Representative government will remain attractive with its long history going back thousands of years. So whenever there is aristocracy it actually is part of evolution towards representative government not the other way around.

Your representation of aristocracy is perfectly in line with my view of our 'democracy'.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Well yours would include the Bush and Clinton families. Mine included a whole plethora of families who've been running the place in line with their best interests since the birth of the state. Dail Eireann is full of family dynasties.
Those might appear to be dynasties, but notice how Jeb is fizzling?
And I don't expect Chelsea to follow Hillary.
A true aristocracy would have more continuity & durability.
 

Reverend Rick

Frubal Whore
Premium Member
Those might appear to be dynasties, but notice how Jeb is fizzling?
And I don't expect Chelsea to follow Hillary.
A true aristocracy would have more continuity & durability.
There is a point here. We have had twenty years of Bushes and Clinton's. If Hillary does two terms, that would be 28 years.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
If we are going to go down that rabbit hole, I agree Bernie would make a much better President than Hillary would.
Both have pluses and minuses, imo, so I don't know who in the final analysis would be better. Either way, I don't think they're gonna get much cooperation from the Republican-controlled, do-nothing Congress.
 

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
There is a point here. We have had twenty years of Bushes and Clinton's. If Hillary does two terms, that would be 28 years.
This is sort of a meta reason I couldn't get behind Hillary for 2000. 28 years of the POTUS being tossed between the immediate members of two nuclear families made me want to toss my breakfast. If this were some third world country we'd call that "oligarchy". And a couple terms by Obama followed by a Clinton vs Bush campaign (which I still think likely) doesn't make me feel any better about it.
Tom
 
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