Democracy's Flaw?

[bu villain]

http://news.yahoo.com/people-arent-s...185601411.html

Despite the intentionally incendiary title, do you agree that democracy's major flaw is the ignorance of the electorate? Should we do something to mitigate that?

[Vteckidd]

No way to solve it.

The only way you can really improve upon it is to simplify government so it is easy to understand, and to have leaders that are willing to tell the truth and not lie to the public.

I dont see that happening anytime soon

[.blank cd]

Excellent article. This pretty much explains the Dunning-Kruger effect as it applies to politics, but what can be done about it that skirts constitutionality? Require an IQ test? A lot of the problem is willful ignorance, political bias, and deep seeded hatred, whether it be based on race or religion

[BanginJimmy]

Good article and right on in many respects.

but what can be done about it that skirts constitutionality? Require an IQ test?

I would be happy with 2 simple changes that neither party would go for.

Eliminate the R and D from the ballot, along with the ability to vote straight party line, and remove the "incumbent" from the ballot. All you, as a voter, see is the position and the names running for that position, in alphabetical order by last name. If that happened, you would see a rash of politicians with the last name Aaron.

[RL...]

I agree with the article's opinion that people are generally too dumb to make democracy work effectively. It's true, people's mind is easily swayed very easily and often time on information that isn't from a reliable source. People care about the wrong things. We are all going to be naturally different from each other, but stupid is just plain stupid. I blame it on our public education system. It's too easy and doesn't teach us the necessary things in life like problem solving, critical thinking, money management, etc...

I have worked in retail for 6 years and deal with lots of people everyday. And most of them are very stupid.