Idiocracy came true
Out of context: Reply #10
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- pr2-3
Democracy, as in how it was practices in ancient Greece, doesn't exist. We have representational democracy so that we can can feel we make a difference once every 4 years. The Greek Democracy was based on active continuous participation of the people. Even calling it " Greek" makes no sense as back then a state was perceived as "people" not physical space enclosed by borders. Even Plato and Socrates was pissed at this kind of system as it was prone to nonsense when an eloquent orator would take the stage and swing the vote - thus their fantasies about Utopian state lead by the vise men. [read more of Castoriadis - it's actually very fascinating]
Right now i'm working on a sci-fi script set considerable time into the future and in that society you get to vote based on your intellectual and status level. Lower on the scale you get to vote on small issues pertinent only to your immediate surrounding, while the higher you go you get to have a say in broader issues. As in case you haven't read it yet, it's good to revisits "Brave New World" as the book clearly doesn't speaks of the future but uses the future to shine light on our current affairs. Indeed, no matter how uncomfortable it sounds, we do have various strata of society: factory workers, bureaucrats, managers etc (yes, book was written in England - where social strata are clearly defined - but so is true in America). Those strata represents vastly different perceptions of the world and with that different needs and expectations. The source of our discontent is that we are made to believe that we are all the same. And so we, the more-or-less educated middle class, get pissed that the mass of under-educated will have a significant say in who will lead "us." In return the under-educated class is pissed that we - the educated middle class - are reaping in the benefits of globalization while they are left in the dust.
So... On one hand it IS about education on the other hand it isn't as a vast mass of under-educated will always exists. And, to once again use Huxley's book as an example, we all belong to some kind of strata. The educated bureaucrat - as many of use fall under this definition - isn't exactly more sophisticated to pick the leader over the proverbial factory worker.
- I hear what you're saying but putting that much power into the hands of a small elite group will lead to a great abuse of power.
Pretty much what we have today_niko - but the people in the lower castes will never be able to move up._niko
- pr2 if you like a brave new world you should read amusing ourselves to death. some excerpts from it https://www.goodread…deathboy
- -niko - not a problem if the lower casts don't want to advance.pr2
- deathboy, yeah there is a lot of great stuff out there about the issue - will check out this guy. Thx!pr2
- Its not fiction, but opinion. And it more accurately advances Huxleys views I think. It doesn't focus on social/econ just pure human incentive in living.deathboy
- Its seriously a very great book and sad in that I can't really find any holes in the guys reasoning, which will likely end bad, but begin again thingdeathboy
- His other writing on the end of education and disappearance of children are pretty good reads too. again spot on in simplicity of it all.deathboy
- what i meant is that there is lots of great non-fiction out there. "One-Dimensional Man" is probably the best.pr2
- I hear what you're saying but putting that much power into the hands of a small elite group will lead to a great abuse of power.