Democracy - is it always good?

Glad you liked the post. :) You are correct, of course, in asking who determines what is right. Without majority rule, it is indeed left to a few select individuals, who may or (more often) may not have a clear vision of right and wrong. "Who guards the guardians?" is the perennial question. That's the problem with *not* having democracy. What's the old cliche about democracy being the worst form of government except for all others? Heh. Plato attempted to address this by setting up a hierarchy in his mythical utopia that was controlled by philosophers (imagine that ;) who were put through rigorous training in order that they might make better decisions and know "The Good." They weren't allowed to rule until they were 50. Once they did, though, their word was law. He also imposed a lot of restrictions on his philosopher-king. The philosopher-king wasn't allowed to own any property, and his/her home was always open to anyone who cared to inspect it. I wonder what our government would be like if we imposed those kinds of rules on candidates running for office? Heheh. I don't know if the fundamental problem here is really solvable. Just because the majority decides something is morally right, that doesn't make it right. There are many people out there who are not very bright or not educated enough to know who or what to vote for. How about this? Voters, before each election, should be required to take and pass with a C or better a course on the issues at hand and the stands each candidate has taken. Proof of passing the course would be required before a person could vote. This wouldn't be an indoctrination, but just a course to make sure people were informed about the issues themselves. Of course, that's also open to exploitation. Maybe it's vulnerable to the same problem -- who grades the tests? Who teaches the course? Hmmm...

Of course one nice thing about having philosophers in charge is that they'd be so busy arguing over what exactly the word law means, they wouldn't have time to pass any ;)

Bwahahahahaaaa!!! So you know us, then? ROTFL! You have no idea. When I was in graduate school, the idea of a philosophy club was brought up. We couldn't even agree on a time to meet! So that went nowhere. The injustice of a meeting time that did not accommodate everyone (it wasn't *possible*) prevented us from ever even beginning. Then there was the issue of Teaching Assistant of the Year awards. Holy Mother, youd'a thought someone had brought up throwing the "B" students to sharks and having them fight their way out to pick who got to continue and who got kicked out. Hahahahaha!! :D

Or course its good, because if it doesn't work out, the people can change it to their liking. You can't change a dictatorship without revolution. Not to mention the whole freedom thing.