Got Democracy?

[MrAxmea]

omg, we're in Iraq because a couple of screwed up radicals blew up two of our most impressive buildings and killed thousands of innocents. not for oil, not for money not to westernize the middle east, but because if the incumbent government continues to support a unchecked angry genocidal point of view and takes no action against instability and we sit by and twiddle our thumbs and hope that a low fat McDonalds salad will save us, we'll get screwed again!!!

[ImperialRussianGuard]

I find it very amusing when people like yourself cry about how the "evil" elite is oppressing you and how only democracy can save the day. The fact of the matter this new elite is the offspring of the democratic revolutions which got rid of the old aristocratic order. They are perhaps democracies staunchest supporters because they could never had such power and influence under a monarch. In democracy they can easily manipulate the uneducated masses.

[Ilikenuman]

i think you should script your videos a little more. because the way you spoke in this video made it seem like you were high :)

[crud4]

The amount of ignorance in America never ceases to amaze and depress me. Good video buddhagem- note to the "patriots"- why exactly do you think the founding fathers were against true democracy?

[mondohartford]

I hate to say it but I dont think we have any democracy LOL

[FacultyZ]

Heres to the True Levellers and Digger of England who understood more clearly the problems with feudalism statism and capitalism also problem of unelected-dictatorships (such as despotism or corportism) or an

elected-dictatorships ( that of Polyarchy)!!!

They like Chartist anarchist Marxist etc...fought for either more representative democracy or direct democracy!!!

Heres to those who died and tortured for the on going stuggle for emancipation even today!

[samsonlovesyou]

Ah, Buddhagem, you legend.

I think I'm going to have to steal your words verbatim from around 4 minutes in when discussing democracy in the future. Could not be said better.

[ChannelMikeG]

Freedom is participation in power. - Cicero

[grungeface87]

Of all the people I've come into contact with who think they're "standing against the system" or "going against the grain" or "rebelling" or whatever title you want to give it, you're the first one who seems real and makes sense to me. Keep up the good work man. If the revolution ever comes, in whatever form, I'm right there with you.

(thanks to kurtilein3 for recommending your channel)

[Mephistophilus]

No, I share a democratic republic. It says so on the instruction manuals and in the chants. I'll sum it up:

...And to the republic for which it, the democracy, stands, one segregated and entitled portion of the planet under The Laws of Nature and Of Nature's God.

[MigDanskeren]

True, Hitler was not elected. But the NSDAP _was_ elected.

[MononofuBlood]

MigDanskeren,

From Wiki:

"The party's last leader, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by president Paul von Hindenburg in 1933. Hitler rapidly established a totalitarian regime[2][3][4][5] known as the Third Reich."

[Ticonio]

my opinion is that Democracy has not been achieved...elites rule everywhere and use manipulation in different ways to KEEP it... a democracy like USA doesn´t achieve its goal of GOVERNING FOR THE PEOPLE...

[porkchopexpress07]

This is very good buddhagem!

[RevolutionaryJam]

hey Buddhagem check out the book Summerhill by A S Neill if you can get a copy I'm sure you'll love it

[josealonsoleon]

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I was in Luxembourg this past weekend and took a picture of a poster that will be in one of my next videos. It was plastered on a public service stand masking the government info beneath it. It was right in front of the entrance to the House of Deputies and got me thinking. Here's what it said:

IF ELECTIONS COULD REALLY CHANGE THINGS, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN FORBIDDEN A LONG TIME AGO!

Now that's DEMOCRACY.....lolololol

[FacultyZ]

WE have a mixture of have imposed Corporatism & Polyarchy ( an elected-dictatorship) NOT Democracy direct or otherwise!

[Supersweetguy]

Democracy is just a notion that is perverted.

[Budguy68]

Democracy is mob rule over the minority. The same mob that can be swayed, controlled and manipulated by some smooth talking mac daddy politician.

If democracy ever wants to rule me all they will get from me is a storm full of lead.

[benson471]

yea you tell em, tough guy.

[buddhagem]

Don't worry genius. You're not part of that minority; the good news is, you'll never be part of that minority. You can put your weapon down. That minority you're so intent on protecting will continue to rule over you and exploit you.

[davehutchinson67]

@buddhagem  That's exactly right...the God Gifted mind of Budguy (says it all right) need not worry..you have already drank the cool aid...the powers that run this country will always protect what James Madison called the "minority of the opulent". Read Ben Franklin's last speech? Was he a dem or a rep? Wake up Bud Guy...your mac daddy pols have already taken over..we live in a de facto corporate oligarchy more or less...you think you have a say..lmao...they did have democracy in one place

[ManilaRyceTLM]

whenever there is a so-called "tyranny of the majority" it's always lead by the interests of a minority. free people don't all collectively decide to start lynching. the mind control of a tyrannical system produces such group-think.

[DixyHair]

First of all, this excuses the people who participate in lynch mobs from any sort of responsibility.

Secondly, are you really saying that people buy into such ludicrous bigotries just because a small minority tells them to? If that was the case, then people really ARE stupid.

However, demagogues are like so-called "psychics"; any clear-thinking person can see right through them, people only buy their bullshit because, for one reason or another, they want to.

[DixyHair]

People want simple explanations, because simple explanations mean simple solutions, & as well, simple = comfortable. In addition, people like saviors, for obvious reasons. So, unfortunately, people have chosen to follow demagogues.

[ManilaRyceTLM]

first of all, this doesn't excuse responsibility anymore than knowing what the abusive background of a child molester is. you don't let him off the hook, but it is important to know why he turned out the way he did if you hope to actually curb the tide of future abuse.

secondly, i'm saying people follow authority. we are social animals. it has less to do with stupidity and more to do with instincts. everybody wants to belong. being an outcast meant death for millions of years.

[DixyHair]

For the first point, fair enough.

For the second point, I sort of agree, but if people instinctively follow the leader, that doesn't exclude the point that they want to believe what demagogues say. Moreover, that's just a regular aspect of mob psychology; the whole point is that human nature renders pure democracy quite oppressive, so how are you going to solve the problem?

[ManilaRyceTLM]

Again, mob rule is not democracy. It is a minority indirectly influencing the majority. Pure democracy is not oppressive, and if humans have a natural tendency to gravitate away from democracy and towards leaders which can lead them astray then the solution is to structure society in a socialist way which encourages participation against those instincts so no one voice rules over the crowd. Capitalist society is outright authoritarian in the way it's structured. That leads to oppression.

[DeraJa]

how do you establish the extent to which something has an effect on you?

[buddhagem]

I have an iPhone app that does it for me. I'm not sure how other people do it :) Seriously? That's for you to figure out. Some things will no doubt be tough to flesh out; but my belief is that once you really think in concrete terms about your life and the things that impacting you, it's not that difficult. How anal you want to be about it is up to you. But I think you can figure it out.

[AlaskanAnarchist]

See, this is one of my objections to "participatory democracy" (in this form, anyway). In order to determine how much something affects you, you would need a majority vote. Or some other kind of majority vote to determine who gets to vote on how much something affects you, depending on how far you go back. The theory is great up to that point. Would love to be shown the error in my thinking and be able to support this system.

[JTravisRolko]

Why would that require majority rule?

[AlaskanAnarchist]

How else would a group determine the degree to which they are affected by community issues? Consensus? Minority Rule? Dictates from a single individual? None of these seem to be superior options to majority rule in my eyes, and majority rule ain't so hot itself. Again, I would love to be shown that I'm missing an option or something of that sort.

[JTravisRolko]

Democracy is partially defined by public input. It always has been. Market supporters will define markets the same way, but democracy is opposed to markets.

When people go to the polls, they aren't intentionally going to tyrannize the minority or anything similar, they're going to give input into how society and resources should be organized and they're going to manage their own lives, since the outcome of the election they're participating in will likely effect them.

[JTravisRolko]

We have to distinguish democracy from ownership. Markets are defined by ownership, as are states. Some people will say they are market anarchists but they don't support the kind of property that isn't at least implicitly approved by the public, which means they are communists in that regard, communism being defined by common control. They support communism to begin with, but ownership after that.

[JTravisRolko]

Defining democracy is something I can't totally do, but I might be able to after school. Ownership I think I can define - a claim over resources (living or non-living), enforced by violence or the threat of violence. Ownership can be concentrated one or very few bodies, as in a one-world government, or very many bodies, as in a market society in which everyone owned a piece of land. Or there can be no ownership, in which everything is controlled commonly.

[JTravisRolko]

To have common control, we must maximise the rights of everyone, since if any person has power over another, that's not common control, that's just some people controlling others.

I realize I'm defining communism and democracy the same way, but that's because I've come to the conclusion that they're synonymous. I would continue, but I think I'll be better off making a video. There are too many premises to set up. I also realize I'm all over the place so I'll stop now.

[DeraJa]

That is why the democratic organizations must be formed through voluntarily entered contracts, or agreements.

[AlaskanAnarchist]

Agreed.

[JTravisRolko]

Contracts don't allow for freedom within association, and if ownership - private or state - exists, that inhibits freedom to begin any initial association. They are hierarchical and not anarchistic.

[DeraJa]

how do you establish democratic institutions if not by consent?

[DeraJa]

I am sure we endorse different visions of property, but I don't want to talk about that. I believe in something closer to lockean property rights. I just want to know how would democratic institutions be established if not by consent.

[JTravisRolko]

Consent doesn't mean contract. They're partially opposed to each other.

I don't even know where to begin. I think I'll have to make video or something. I have to setup a few premises before I can even discuss this stuff with anyone.

[DeraJa]

yeah comments are pretty superficial. Write, or suggest a book if you must. I am actually looking for something to read. So, if you know of a good book on the subject, by all means suggest away.

[hitssquad]

@DeraJa

The mob tells you.

jim. com/killingfields. html

"Well obviously the community must decide.

And then the community must impose its decision"

"Needless to say, when this system is introduced, a great many people misbehave. You cannot send them to prison, they already are in prison.

You have to murder them."