Ancestors

Written by Benjohn on 2024-11-06 at 14:53

I think democracy can and should (and to some degree is) vastly more than electing representatives or "leaders" every few years. I think the UK's (and USA's) democracies are very far from ideal and are preconfigured to maintaining the order of power. Keeping and boosting the power of the powerful.

But I think the problem here is separate.

I think we're seeing what happens when a few people hold almost all the power, that power being wealth (+ a few other things – but mostly wealth).

Their power dilutes any democratic element to homeopathic levels.

We might still have elections, but substantive decision making, both inside legislative functions and outside in the world of business, or in communities, will be for the tiny powerful minority and their concern to remain that way.

That kind of power, that wealth disparity, dilutes and warps any democracy beyond useful effect.

I don't have a path from where we find ourselves to a place where power is more equally shared. I'm no expert in history, but I suspect its examples don't inspire a lot of hope of an easy journey.

I've seen lots of messages this morning suggesting we look out for each other. I think this is good advice.

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Toot

Written by Benjohn on 2024-11-06 at 15:15

A different hypothesis would be fascism may result when a previously privileged significant minority loose their elevated status.

Sorry for my thoughts out loud. Trying to make some sense of the world.

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Descendants

Written by Benjohn on 2024-11-06 at 17:19

My thought is basically: the inequality of having a vanishingly small minority hold the vast majority of wealth is already authoritarianism.

Beyond some point, the final steps to erode and strip away remaining vestiges of political process are a self fulfilling evolution. It is powered by those wanting more being willing participants in centralising power further in the hope they get a little of it.

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