If someone says, 'Democracy is a sham, those people don't speak for me... the system's rigged,' you say, 'Vote.' Someone says, 'I was making a statement by not voting,' and then you say, 'Well I can't hear it.'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Calling out people for not voting, what experts term 'public shaming,' can prod someone to cast a ballot.
People feel like the system is rigged against them, and here is the painful part, they're right. The system is rigged.
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
People begin to resent the rich only when they conclude that the system is rigged.
Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn't matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.
Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.
We think that democracy can change a lot of things, but we're being fooled, because democracy is not the election. We've been taught that democracy is having elections. And it isn't. Elections are the most horrendous aspect of democracy. It's the most mundane, trivial, disappointing, dirty aspect.
I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Democracy is not about making speeches. It is about making committees work.