Comments on: Munger on Democracy

By: mungowitz

mungowitz — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 15:04:00 +0000

You can’t be serious about the Hitler thing. The fact that he was a vegetarian has nothing to do with vegetarians being bloodthirsty dictators.

But the fact that dictator Hitler WAS selected democratically has LOTS to do with a proof, by example, that democracy cannot protect against dictatorship.

Suppose someone said, “No dictators are vegetarians. Being a vegetarian protects against liking dictatorship!” I could then plausibly say, “Wait, Hitler was a dictator, and he was a vegetarian. So, being a vegetarian has nothing to do with protection from dictatorship.”

And, so, I *did* say, since Hitler was elected, but became a dictator, elections don’t protect against dictatorship.

As for washerdreyer: Plenty of people DO believe that “love is all we need,” and love=democracy. If you don’t believe that…go out and tell some people! ‘Cause you have already found the path of wisdom.

kgrease

By: washerdreyer

washerdreyer — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:47:00 +0000

The framers of the U.S. Constitution fully recognized that there is nothing, nothing at all, inherent in democracy that ensures the freedom of persons or property.
I think that might be arguing against a strawman. The question isn’t whether or not democracy ensures these things (who claims that it does?) but whether or not it makes them more likely. I don’t see anything in the article which addresses this issue, which is more of a serious claim.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 11:15:00 +0000

Note the approving citation of Fareed Zakaria: After all, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany via free elections.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Note the approving citation of Fareed Zakaria: After all, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany via free elections.

By: washerdreyer

washerdreyer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By: mungowitz

mungowitz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can’t be serious about the Hitler thing. The fact that he was a vegetarian has nothing to do with vegetarians being bloodthirsty dictators.

But the fact that dictator Hitler WAS selected democratically has LOTS to do with a proof, by example, that democracy cannot protect against dictatorship.

And, so, I *did* say, since Hitler was elected, but became a dictator, elections don’t protect against dictatorship.

kgrease

By: Exploit the Worker

Exploit the Worker — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Munger on Democracy

Michael Munger: The reason democratic nations have personal liberties, property rights, and rule of law is not that they are democracies. Rather, nations that have those things embody the entire package of the Western tradition of good government. [Eco…