Re: [OpenHeroQuest] Re: From HQrules list

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_PNq5Z_4o6bwrnnsHRu_3-aTG-MYzSmyqpE8uepVkVpMv71uBnNDgJoC5woGjj9Atn8G>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 13:34:49 -0800


Tim Ellis <tim_at_M1fY8Jlx9nmEPCb0tm89-dgs_t0HonLpwzTWD4ejly2O7E_pKyOFxvdsF0wz0h4v9mEjoL-BjFeZfylRTs2M7Q.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>
> "Democracy is the worse form of Government, except all those other
> forms that have been tried from time to time" Winston Churchill

I remember Jonah Goldberg writing somewhere that the best form of government is putting absolute power in the hands of a single, good, wise, benevolent person--the "Good Tsar" form of government.

The trouble is, the absolute *worst* form of government is putting absolute power in the hands of a *bad* person. And there's no way to set up a system which guarantees "good tsars" and no "bad tsars".

Democracy is a much more fault-tolerant system. Things can go wrong, and it's slower at getting some things done--but one of the things it's slower at is fucking things up. A despot can take a whole country to hell in a hurry (viz. Zimbabwe). A democracy plods along, and is much less likely to make drastic changes for good or ill.

Of course, it helps if it's a democracy of people with guns. Keeps our goverment from getting too uppity.

--AMS            

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