I’m not a political person but here goes: Is democracy actually crap in practice?

For sure the equality and freedom of it sounds impressive until the awkward fact raises its head that people might be voting on legislation and legal practice they may not have the mental capacity to understand or a bias that makes them blind to the issues.

Should people pass a qualification to give them a voting right or should everyone get to vote no matter how stupid, unhinged, racist or religious they are?

Thoughts?

And I’m talking about the world, not America so any grubby memes or replies promoting one party or another will be deleted as quickly as it’s received.

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SW-User

The simple truth is that everyone deserves the right to vote on the issues which affect them and they should not be excluded on the basis of intelligence which is often a factor of education which itself is a factor of privilege. What brings balance is that elections are decided by a majority and extreme views or uneducated views cannot carry influence unless they have become mainstream. If they have then any vote on that basis is representative, even if undesirable to some.

Ceinwyn · 26-30, F

@SW-User But I’ve seen people voting for policies that will financially harm them or put them at a disadvantage just be cause the candidate is a better speaker than the opposition.

It seems if your are a better speaker you can convince slugs to vote for salt. And sure that’s not a functioning system.

SW-User

@Ceinwyn Oh for sure, a person who can better present their views can win over audiences. That's the nature of debate. The arguments don't necessarily have to be based in fact, they merely have to be compelling. It is then for the audience to be discerning, to think for themselves. Some will do that, some won't. This is also why a free media is so important, because they are allowed to challenge and fact check the narrative. The alternative is living in Russia, China or North Korea.

Democracy is not perfect but there has yet to be presented a better option which doesn't openly discriminate.