• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    7 days ago

    These points are only achievable by voting for candidates who advocate for such policies which is admittedly a long shot

    Politics is the art of the possible. The entire job of political leadership is to advocate for policy change.

    • NeilBru@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 days ago

      Again, My question to you is if not democracy, then what? Or do you actually want democracy? Please propose your alternative to democracy, given your claim about its purpose in “keeping capitalists in power”.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        Or do you actually want democracy?

        I want good policy.

        If my democracy is producing bad candidates and bad policies, what purpose does it serve?

        your alternative to democracy, given your claim about its purpose in “keeping capitalists in power”.

        Capitalism is serviced by the illusion of choice in a functional monopoly. The solution is to break up the monopoly.

        But that’s a Herculean task.

        • J Lou@mastodon.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 days ago

          You can’t get good policy without democracy because democracy is part of all good policy. Non-democracy violates inalienable rights, which makes it inherently bad policy

          @politicalmemes

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            7 days ago

            You can’t get good policy without democracy

            Put two policies on a coin and flip it. Half the time you’ll get good policy. No democracy required.

            Democracy grants input from a broad base of social perspective. But if that persective is polluted by propaganda and haunted by historical bigotry, you’ll get out what you put in.

            An apartheid democracy is less preferable than revolutionary anarchy, even if you didn’t all get to line up at a voting booth and decide to overthrow the corrupt establishment

            Non-democracy violates inalienable rights

            If you can consistently violate a set of rights, they aren’t inalienable. Pretending social obligations and taboos are written into the stars is what gets us some of the more destructive social impulses (abortion clinic bombings, white power marches, etc).

            • J Lou@mastodon.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              7 days ago

              The coin flip is inherently part of policy, and it is bad policy to decide on policies with a coin flip

              Inalienable rights are moral rights that can’t be given up or transferred. It doesn’t mean that the legal system can’t fail to enforce the right such as by legally treating it as alienable like capitalism does in the employment contract. If the legal system doesn’t grant it, that’s a bad legal system.

              Moral concepts have an objective sense that is unknowable.

              @politicalmemes

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                6 days ago

                it is bad policy to decide on policies with a coin flip

                A/B testing is a classic tool for evaluating a range of options for best results