Posted by alexandra_k on July 17, 2005, at 14:37:37
In reply to Re: Don't worry about the media..., posted by so on July 16, 2005, at 21:48:05
> If the majority of people can't be trusted to invest in important information, democracy might be doomed.
Yeah. Or at the very least it makes the practice of democracy dubious. Can people be relied on to make informed decisions that are sensibly based on the issues rather than to be swayed by rhetorical force? Is the information really available to them?
Plato... Talked about the idea of an Oligarchy. He thought that the 'common man' didn't know enough about politics to make informed decisions and so people would be especially trained in politics. They would get to make the decisions.
But then that brings up a whole heap of other issues as well...
I worry about a political system when there are two options. When both of those options needs the media to support them in order to conduct an effective election campaign. When both of those options needs the support of businesses in order to influence the media and advertise. I wonder how different their business policies would really be when they rely on business support. I wonder how much there is the mere appearance of choice...
But no system is perfect, I suppose.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:526488
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20050509/msgs/529066.html