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Charles Whitaker's avatar

I'm glad that you started with the LKY quote. He also said that democracy worked where economic division of the spoils was all that it had to decide. Because that is not an either/or issue. But when you are fighting over how society is structured based on matters of identity, that is not an either/or issue. He also said that democracy worked best in the UK -- at that period -- because of the nature of its society -- homogeneously white and Anglican -- which had been that way for centuries.

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David Ginsburg's avatar

At the risk of grossly oversimplifying a complex argument, your critique of liberal (representative) democracy can be reduced to a single core proposition: capitalism no longer works in developed Western societies. Its inherent tendency to create schisms within and between classes - schisms which, historically, have typically been most visible in the cultural and politico-legal spheres - are ultimately rendered transparent in the economy, especially as the ruling class is further reduced to a handful of easily identifiable oligarchs. In the MUSKification, or WEFication of capitalist power.

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Godfree Roberts's avatar

The tide is going out and we can see who's wearing bathing suits..

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David Ginsburg's avatar

Pithy. I like it.

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Hua Bin's avatar

kudos on an original analysis. When Pluto wrote the republic, the social and economic conditions were vastly different from today. Even a great theory needs finetuning to fit the time. Otherwise, it turns into a rigid dogma and ideology which will lead to disaster.

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