Re:US Customs Database Of Traveler Photos Was Hacked And Stolen
by jMyles on Monday June 10, 2019 @08:12PM
(#20152079)
> In a functioning democracy "they" is "us".
That notion is generally not in keeping with the western common-law tradition, which holds a more skeptical view of governments which have the moral authority to operate within any domain and with any powers so long as they can connect those powers to the consent of the governed.
Instead, the tradition of the United States, for example, is that government power is limited and enumerated and does not change no matter what "us" may say about it in the form of political elections.
I suggest that you read (just an example) Federalist 10 by James Madison and consider how thoroughly these guys thought through the argument you are making about democracy and how hard they tried to make something better.
And none of this is to amount to founder worship: we can all see now that there was tremendous hypocrisy in founding a nation which didn't categorically prohibit slavery from the get-go. And in fact, slavery continues to this day in the form of a prison system that "us" has occasionally been happy to endorse, the rights of the incarcerated be damned.
All I'm saying is: don't tout democracy in such simplistic terms without also considering the arguments of its critics.
That notion is generally not in keeping with the western common-law tradition, which holds a more skeptical view of governments which have the moral authority to operate within any domain and with any powers so long as they can connect those powers to the consent of the governed.
Instead, the tradition of the United States, for example, is that government power is limited and enumerated and does not change no matter what "us" may say about it in the form of political elections.
I suggest that you read (just an example) Federalist 10 by James Madison and consider how thoroughly these guys thought through the argument you are making about democracy and how hard they tried to make something better.
And none of this is to amount to founder worship: we can all see now that there was tremendous hypocrisy in founding a nation which didn't categorically prohibit slavery from the get-go. And in fact, slavery continues to this day in the form of a prison system that "us" has occasionally been happy to endorse, the rights of the incarcerated be damned.
All I'm saying is: don't tout democracy in such simplistic terms without also considering the arguments of its critics.