Are you implying that I'm a communist? I don't think we have those here"Freedom is merely privilege extended," eh?
in Canada - we only have lumberjacks and hockey players.
Democracy is meant to protect against those who try to silence those needs.
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By treating democracy as an absolute, it's an indicator that one needs really strong arguments before they begin to question it. By treating it as absolute, whoever questions it instantly pays a price, often with lost cultural status as result.
But look at the evidence. Democracy hasn't always protected us from those who try to silence those needs. One also doesn't need particularly strong arguments to question democracy. We just have to look around the world at governments who were democratically elected, yet perpetrated all kinds injustices and atrocities. Democracy is a double edged sword. It can work in the interests of the majority of the people, or it can work against the interests of the majority of the people. There's no guarantee. And in my opinion, it doesn't make sense to put it on a golden pedestal and hold it up as the ultimate goal and aim of human destiny without preconditions. Democracy on its own doesn't ensure universal human rights. The cultural preconditions (a highly educated population, freedom of information, a system of ethics which promotes cooperation and compassion and rejects racism, violence, cruetly etc.) need to be in place first before democracy or any other system can work to the betterment of society as a whole.
I do agree somewhat with your last post though. The mental condition of human beings is something that's often overlooked, though it can be just as harmful to a person's health and well being as environmental conditions.
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