[tdba]

I partly agree - I think you've outlined well why democracy should not be an end in itself. It's a means to an end and it's not always the best means. The main advantage of democracy is that it facilitates peaceful transfer of power between competing groups of elites. But you could imagine scenarios where the cost of a violent transfer of power is less than the cost of some other very bad outcome democracy is hurtling towards (e.g. an even larger outburst of violence at a later date, an environmental catastrophe).