Devin, as awful as democracy is, I don’t see any reason to doubt the verdict of history that monarchy is worse. Important question: Are Congressional staff brighter than the actual Congresspeople?
Are you aware that the victors write the history? Pick up a Chinese history book and you’ll read about what a swell guy Mao was. Sure some things he did were a bit suboptimal, but in general, he was a great man that was a blessing for China. The United States has a $1 trillion state education system. What kind of myths has it have filled your head with?
If you actually read the book of someone who lived through the transition of monarchy to democracy, you’ll find a quite different story. Read The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig. He laments the destructive force of universal suffrage, and how it led to polarization, racism, and war. Or consider Metternich, the foremost statesman of the early 1800′s. Metternich intentionally kept the lid on democracy because he believed that it would lead to rabid German nationalism. Was he right or was he right? And if you study the effects of German universal suffrage in 1871, you can trace out the Blue-Green polarization that led to increasing anti-semitism.
Are Congressional staff brighter than the actual Congresspeople?
Yes, they usually are. And in general, the more isolated from the voters a position is, the more competent and trustworthy it is. For instance, I would trust the Joint Chiefs of Staff decision to go to war far more than I’d trust an elected president. I trust Bernanke more than Paulson more than Congress. If you look at the worst wars in history, you find the masses are usually more jingoistic than the leaders. For example, at the onset of World War I, the monarchs were the least willing to go to war. The politicians were much more willing, the newspapers were all like FoxNews on steroids, and the people were marching in the streets in chanting for war.
You’ve only talked about transitions (which are always bloody) and fallout from transitions , while people adjust. I’d rather hear about the actual differences in living conditions under the different political systems once they’ve stabilised.
I don’t know enough about it, but it might be interesting to compare living conditions of Rome under democratic rule vs during the years of empire.
Rome was never a democracy in anything like the sense we understand it (only a tiny proportion of the population could vote, certain level of wealth was required to run for office etc.). But in general democracies seem to have higher living standards, While obviously its difficult to control for other factors, natural experiments might be different states in south america and africa which moved to democracy at different times.
Devin, as awful as democracy is, I don’t see any reason to doubt the verdict of history that monarchy is worse. Important question: Are Congressional staff brighter than the actual Congresspeople?
Are you aware that the victors write the history? Pick up a Chinese history book and you’ll read about what a swell guy Mao was. Sure some things he did were a bit suboptimal, but in general, he was a great man that was a blessing for China. The United States has a $1 trillion state education system. What kind of myths has it have filled your head with?
If you actually read the book of someone who lived through the transition of monarchy to democracy, you’ll find a quite different story. Read The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig. He laments the destructive force of universal suffrage, and how it led to polarization, racism, and war. Or consider Metternich, the foremost statesman of the early 1800′s. Metternich intentionally kept the lid on democracy because he believed that it would lead to rabid German nationalism. Was he right or was he right? And if you study the effects of German universal suffrage in 1871, you can trace out the Blue-Green polarization that led to increasing anti-semitism.
Are Congressional staff brighter than the actual Congresspeople?
Yes, they usually are. And in general, the more isolated from the voters a position is, the more competent and trustworthy it is. For instance, I would trust the Joint Chiefs of Staff decision to go to war far more than I’d trust an elected president. I trust Bernanke more than Paulson more than Congress. If you look at the worst wars in history, you find the masses are usually more jingoistic than the leaders. For example, at the onset of World War I, the monarchs were the least willing to go to war. The politicians were much more willing, the newspapers were all like FoxNews on steroids, and the people were marching in the streets in chanting for war.
You’ve only talked about transitions (which are always bloody) and fallout from transitions , while people adjust. I’d rather hear about the actual differences in living conditions under the different political systems once they’ve stabilised.
I don’t know enough about it, but it might be interesting to compare living conditions of Rome under democratic rule vs during the years of empire.
Rome was never a democracy in anything like the sense we understand it (only a tiny proportion of the population could vote, certain level of wealth was required to run for office etc.). But in general democracies seem to have higher living standards, While obviously its difficult to control for other factors, natural experiments might be different states in south america and africa which moved to democracy at different times.