sebastian_dangerfield |
04-09-2018 10:56 AM |
Re: We are all Slave now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
(Post 514099)
(1) Sebby says democracies collapse. The Nordics haven't. So either he is just plain wrong, or a Nordic-style democracy is not sufficiently democratic to induce collapse, in which case it's an academic point not worth discussing.
(2) Maybe our poverty level is higher because our system of government doesn't sufficiently represent the needs of the poorer and do more to elevate their condition.
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1. The Nordics are the Saudis of the North. Petro-states with small populations can run a long time before the resources are exhausted.
But to your point, all pure democracies will eventually collapse. People see someone with more of something and seek parity by whatever means they can. If this is a the ballot box, they'll attempt to vote themselves even with the closest Joneses. The Joneses will then pull away a bit, desiring to enhance their relative status, and the cycle will ratchet up in terms of cost. Eventually, it breaks the bank.
In the US, in a culture as crass and class ambitious as ours, the process is very much accelerated in comparison to the more mature Nordic societies.
2. That's part of it. No doubt. But nowhere near all of it.
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