6 ms·

>The "government" is just the set of people who hold power over others. Often, yes, but in a more functional society it would be the mechanism we collectively

>The "government" is just the set of people who hold power over others. Often, yes, but in a more functional society it would be the mechanism we collectively use to prevent a few people from amassing excessive wealth and power.

010101010101 11mo ago
Those two things don’t sound mutually exclusive to me.
serial_dev 11mo ago
Where did this ever work out? It’s extremely common that policies are universally hated by the people, yet the people in power do it anyway.
- pydry 11mo ago
  Switzerland. America isnt really a democracy it's a plutocracy.
  - Ray20 11mo ago
    Just for example. When the elite drives all their opponents into poverty and sends them to rot in prison for the slightest outcry, that's anything but democracy. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/swiss-lgbtq-groups-praise-jail-sentence-commentator-called-journalist-rcna118715 https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/swiss-lgbtq-groups-...
    - rolandog 11mo ago
      That's the paradox of tolerance for you; we must be intolerant of those that are intolerant... but you probably already know that Karl Popper theorized that [0]. Just looking around globally, we seem to be at that inflection point where this isn't mere hypothesis, but theory or law: "Popper posited that if intolerant ideologies are allowed unchecked expression, they could exploit open society values to erode or destroy tolerance itself through authoritarian or oppressive practices." [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
      - Ray20 11mo ago
        > That's the paradox of tolerance for you That's not a paradox of tolerance, it is the anti-democratic practice of fascism. > they could exploit open society values to erode or destroy tolerance itself through authoritarian or oppressive practices. This is exactly my point: an emerging fascist government through authoritarian or oppressive practices destroys tolerance by silencing people for any words that go against their agenda. There is no paradox here.
    - Balinares 11mo ago
      The way real democracies punish bad people is really upsetting to bad people.
    - fwip 11mo ago
      "Soral was convicted repeatedly in France and sentenced to jail time in 2019 for denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in France." Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
- cutemonster 11mo ago
  The Nordic countries are pretty ok functioning democracies, with many smaller political parties. And pretty high taxes (What do you refer to with "this"?)
eru 11mo ago
That's just one particular set of preferences. Different people have different priorities.

010101010101 11mo ago

Those two things don’t sound mutually exclusive to me.

serial_dev 11mo ago

Where did this ever work out? It’s extremely common that policies are universally hated by the people, yet the people in power do it anyway.

pydry 11mo ago
Switzerland. America isnt really a democracy it's a plutocracy.
- Ray20 11mo ago
  Just for example. When the elite drives all their opponents into poverty and sends them to rot in prison for the slightest outcry, that's anything but democracy. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/swiss-lgbtq-groups-praise-jail-sentence-commentator-called-journalist-rcna118715 https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/swiss-lgbtq-groups-...
  - rolandog 11mo ago
    That's the paradox of tolerance for you; we must be intolerant of those that are intolerant... but you probably already know that Karl Popper theorized that [0]. Just looking around globally, we seem to be at that inflection point where this isn't mere hypothesis, but theory or law: "Popper posited that if intolerant ideologies are allowed unchecked expression, they could exploit open society values to erode or destroy tolerance itself through authoritarian or oppressive practices." [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
    - Ray20 11mo ago
      > That's the paradox of tolerance for you That's not a paradox of tolerance, it is the anti-democratic practice of fascism. > they could exploit open society values to erode or destroy tolerance itself through authoritarian or oppressive practices. This is exactly my point: an emerging fascist government through authoritarian or oppressive practices destroys tolerance by silencing people for any words that go against their agenda. There is no paradox here.
  - Balinares 11mo ago
    The way real democracies punish bad people is really upsetting to bad people.
  - fwip 11mo ago
    "Soral was convicted repeatedly in France and sentenced to jail time in 2019 for denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in France." Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
cutemonster 11mo ago
The Nordic countries are pretty ok functioning democracies, with many smaller political parties. And pretty high taxes (What do you refer to with "this"?)

eru 11mo ago

That's just one particular set of preferences. Different people have different priorities.