Post Alpaca Lips Posts

Photo by   Mick Haupt   on  Unsplash . First published on Medium . . Many people are against direct democracy because they fear   mob rule   and such. That fear is derived from a static idea fallacy;   only what democracy was, is what democracy can be.   There are no extenuating circumstances where democracy can be more direct than it is, and still be successful. Blah. Blah. Blah.   While we have been a republic with democratic elements, or democracy with republican checks and balances, the belief system surrounding these ideas is an 18th century relic.   Is it possible that our democratic system has not changed in the 234 years since our Constitution was written, or cannot be improved? . Yes, human behavior has changed little since then. Yet, no matter what people and our nation were like centuries ago, our ability to run government since then with more democratic involvement has improved many lives. Specifically, our laws, and enforcement o...

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo / Unsplash , Kettle Black . Look closely at the context when a conservative uses the epithet mob rule to denigrate democracy, or democratic actions. There is an underlying problem with this designation, and it relates to the situations where a mob is actually harmful, and where the mob rule epithet is used against positive social, political, and economic changes we demand. . In a previous essay , I noted how an angry mob , or mob mentality is what everyone is thinking of when mob rule is brought out to besmirch something that is close to pure democratic rule. Ironically, this association is never used when conservative violence-oriented belief systems are being instituted. Think about it. When there is an emotional legislative topic, such as war, abortion, guns, crime, or state killing as in the death penalty, the angry mob and mob mentality are trotted out in full force to defend their positions. Exactly where high emotional language is their stock an...