Reply
Wed 5 Mar, 2003 12:16 am
Does democracy imply debate ?
Absolutely. Much of what happens in a democratic society is based on consensus. Consensus is acheived through debate, argument and negotiation.
I like that idea of negotiation Phoenix. Seems there has been very little of that occuring over the last 25 years or so. Everyone battles from the extemes and nothing good seems to get done - <sigh>
BillW wrote: "I like that idea of negotiation Phoenix. Seems there has been very little of that occuring over the last 25 years or so. Everyone battles from the extemes and nothing good seems to get done..."
In his essay "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," Richard Hofstadter noted this tendency and spoke of those individuals possessing the politically paranoic trait:
"He does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated?-if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. "
Lest you think that this is a recent phenomenon, Hofstadter wrote his essay in 1964 and it surveys some of the "paranoid" movements dating back to the 1600s!
Yes. It also implies access to honest news.
roger, and therein lies the rub for most of us.
Oh, I just knew you were going to see that, dys.
I think free speech is a cornerstone of any valid form of government, and that open debate is an inherent part of the exercise of free speech.
I disagree with the notion that the United States is run--or was intended to be run--based on "consensus".
Free speach?
where can I buy?
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