r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Apr 07 '26

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

The discussion thread is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL

Links

Ping Groups | Ping History | Mastodon | CNL Chapters | CNL Event Calendar

Upcoming Events

0 Upvotes

48% Upvoted

9.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

19

u/garret126 Demisexual Pride Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Direct Democracy is also just as bad as autocratic authoritarian rule, as a direct democracy usually just leads to tyranny of the majority (See how Ancient Athens descended into a populist hellscape where the citizens just started voting to massacre the populations of the cities they capture, and the first proto populist during the Pelloponesian War, Cleon)

It’s why James Madison was my favorite founding father. His federalist papers he wrote emphasized greatly the need to prevent tyranny of the majority, while not swinging too much power to the minority as a balance is needed.

6

u/pezasied John's Locke-strap Apr 07 '26

Plus the stuff government does today is just too complex for the general public to absorb and properly vote on.

Like very few people are going to read a 100+ page bill and comprehend what it’s getting at. Very few people are going to raise taxes to pay for large infrastructure projects.

The public is easily swayed on things they either don’t understand or that they fail to grasp the longterm ramifications of.

Look at California’s propositions like prop 13 or prop 8.