[textide]

Of course the angelic souls who suddenly find themselves in charge of arranging such a system would have to be chosen somehow. Or would they just need to be ambitious creatures that take the reins and become benevolent dictators? Knowledge of human nature has to be a prerequisite here, does it not?

[legitster]

Well, in almost every functional democracy in the world, at some point the founders of it decided on a way to split up power. In the US, that meant 3 different branches of federal government, individual state governments, separation of church and state, and giving every citizen the right to establish a corporation and engage in trade (aka capitalism). So three separate estates, and subdivisions within each one. So we were lucky to have enough angelic (enough) souls who did arrange such a system (flawed as it is).

Contrast this to something like China where there is a single party and a single government with no checks or balances. And such as there is some free enterprise, it is not a universal protected right and even the richest citizens have no ability to affect politics. It does not seem like a favorable alternative.

[dsego]

> citizens have no ability to affect politics.

Theoretically at least you could join the party and become politically active in your local branch, no?

[nvm0n2]

People who become politically active in China end up disappearing regardless of party membership. I mean, you realise the "party" in a communist state is nothing like a political party in democracies? The word used is the same but their mechanics are totally different.

[dsego]

We had a one-party system in Yugoslavia. Today we have one ruling party which almost always wins the election and being a member will give you perks and advantages. Small parties are there mostly for the decor and coalitions. Sometimes the opposition will win at the city level, and then the county and state ruled by the party in power will do everything to undermine any disruptive actions, prevent advancements and things just stay blocked until that party wins the local election and unblocks the changes to attribute it to themselves. Also, significant infrastructure work often awaits for just before the next election, for better optics, or the government will choose where to invest public funds based on publicity and not the actual needs of the people, everything to secure the next election.

[legitster]

Sure, but that's kind of my point. If all of the psychopaths only have one place in society to get power, it's not going to end up a good society.