Re:U.S. Charges 13 Russians, 3 Companies for Interfering wit...
by pjc50 on Friday February 16, 2018 @02:56PM
(#16395511)
> The strength of a democracy should be that its citizens can stand in the battleground of ideas unscathed
Unfortunately this is as obsolete as medieval ideas of chivalry and trial by combat in the age of nuclear weapons and poison gas.
In a two-party democracy, there might be some stable equilibrium where the parties agree not to wreck civic trust and institutions because they have to live there. This won't survive a third party coming in and releasing the informational equivalent of toxic gas, because they don't care if it makes peaceful democratic government impossible.
Unfortunately this is as obsolete as medieval ideas of chivalry and trial by combat in the age of nuclear weapons and poison gas.
In a two-party democracy, there might be some stable equilibrium where the parties agree not to wreck civic trust and institutions because they have to live there. This won't survive a third party coming in and releasing the informational equivalent of toxic gas, because they don't care if it makes peaceful democratic government impossible.