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by JumpCrisscross 14 hours ago
> Disparaging democracy

The ancient Athenians knew that elections favored the rich. That’s why they incorporated selection by lot into their system. Our modern understanding of democracy has fetishized elections to the point that some voters might see hundreds of them in a year, including for positions that shouldn’t ever be elected (e.g. judges), while still having little to no actual civic power.

3 comments

How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting.
> How will you get selection by lot into the current system without violence? Voting

Oh totally agree. But also civic involvement. The returns to even small amounts of civic engagement in America are so ridiculously high because most of the population doesn’t do it. If like 5% more of the electorate called their electeds at least twice a year, that would represent a 25% increase in civic engagement, enough to break constituencies.

I think the Athenians named our current system an oligarchy. Selection by lot would take a lot of the corrupting influence of money out of the system too. There would need to be safeguards though, similar to how juries are protected during a trial.

I read somewhere recently about how congress should be much bigger than it is currently due to population growth, and how that would make all the redistricting that currently happens irrelevant.

The "just vote" lot are the perfect pressure release valve for the failed system.

Out of control inflation? No healthcare? Endless war?

Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat!

It's time to say no to these charlatans. If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change.

> You just have to vote for a democrat!

Or a third party.

> If people lose hope in the system, that's when it can change

There's only 2 ways it can change: voting or violence. You're saying voting doesn't work. That means you're advocating violence.

> Just vote! You just have to vote for a democrat! It's time to say no to these charlatans.

Biased much? Why not say no to Republicans, they put us in this mess time and time again.