[benjaminbrodie]

At the end of the day people everywhere just want to live meaningful, fulfilling lives. Having the right to vote has no essential bearing on meaning. Most Americans try every means available to get out of jury duty, and last time I checked, turnout rates for NY and SF are below ten percent. If these sacred democratic rights were really so personally valuable to people, how come so many of them don't even bother to exercise them?

[kabwj]

People prefer happiness to freedom. I don’t think that democracy is vital to the wellness of a society. It’s just that until now all autocratic societies were ruled by shitheads and they inevitably collapsed. Now we’re seeing an autocratic society that is working fine because it’s being led by intelligent, not-too-selfish people. This is a breath of fresh air since in my opinion democracy is well past its heyday and we have to explore new options.

[delian66]

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastic_cycle It is just a matter of time for the corruption to set in again.

[0815test]

> I don’t think that democracy is vital to the wellness of a society.

Well, it depends. If you're well above the typical middle-income country, I think you'd still benefit from more democracy. Democratic countries tend to benefit from increased openness, which is vital to creating wealth and avoiding disruptions of all sorts when you're at the forefront of economic development - and we see this even in historical times where non-democratic polities were far more common.

[tarsinge]

> It’s just that until now all autocratic societies were ruled by shitheads

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France#Veneration_...

[coldtea]

Not to mention that almost all democratic societies also end up cyclically ruled by shitheads and selfish out of touch elites (and we're at that point well now).

[kabwj]

Sorry, I meant in the last 100 years or so.