[htag]

The argument that people aren't to be trusted with a more direct democracy always falls flat to me. The alternative is power concentrated to a few people which introduces a risk for developing a ruling class, an aristocracy, or plutocracy. Arguing against direct democracy feels elitist, like only certain people should be trusted with actual power.

The truth is half of the population is dumber than the average, but the other half is smarter than average. Groups of people are susceptible to bias just like individuals. At least when people vote we know they are considering their own interests.

[vintermann]

Smart and dumb is the wrong way to think about it. The important thing is that people want different things, there are real conflicts of interest.

And moreover, we can't trust each other fully. We can try to aspire to it, but none of us can honestly say we just want what's best for everyone.

Just because someone is smarter than you by some measure, doesn't mean you're better off letting them rule you.

[htag]

My comment on intelligence was directly in response to my parent comment's quote "Aside from that, people in aggregate just aren't that bright"

> We can try to aspire to it, but none of us can honestly say we just want what's best for everyone.

This is exactly why having anything approaching a ruling class is a large hazard to avoid. Intermediate steps between citizens voting and power being executed are an attack area for people with selfish interests to inject themselves.

[kortilla]

I don’t want direct democracy deciding specific environmental regulations. Some things need to be done by appointed experts.

Yes it’s “elitist”, but it’s the equivalent of expecting someone qualified to perform a heart surgery rather than a rando off the street.

[vintermann]

A "direct" democracy should be perfectly capable of calling in expert opinion, if they decide that a question isn't really political. But which questions are political, is itself a political question.

(You do need the random lottery version of DD, sortition, rather than the everyone gets to vote on everything type).