The Democracy of the founding fathers was Greek Democracy, predicated upon a slave society, and restricted to only the elite. This is the society we live in today, even with our reforms towards direct representation. The system is inherently biased towards the election of elites and against the representation of the masses. Hamilton called it “faction” when the working class got together and demanded better conditions, and mechanisms were built in (which still exist to this day) that serve to ensure the continued dominance of the elite over the masses. The suffering of the many is intentional. The opulence of the wealthy is also. This is the intended outcome.

  • Ilovethebomb
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    8 months ago

    the only moral thing to do is dispossess them of that land.

    And give it to who? Who’s going to farm that land when they’re not allowed to make a profit from it? It’s not easy work.

    • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tfOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      Maybe some of the millions of people who are currently unable to even afford adequate food for themselves because of the profiteering of these very landholders, who engage in such sabotage as mass slaughter and burial of animals to prevent price drops. You know, profits are after wages, right? Profits aren’t wages. You only make profits after you pay wages and costs. So… you pay wages.

      • galloog1@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        8 months ago

        When you place economic decisions from a profit driven one into the hands of the politician, you get just as perverse incentives. What’s even worse is that the government cannot fail so the system just gets progressively worse until the entire system collapses. I’m good with a liberal system as is with some moderate reforms to account for externalities.

        • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tfOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          8 months ago

          I will just copy and paste part of my comment that I made to another, because your final argument is the same.

          I get it, suffering is okay if it’s the status quo, but if it happens in service of doing better, that’s not okay, so we should just be happy with the status quo, where the vast majority suffer daily indignities and violences, and are forced into exploitation by coercive structures.

          You benefit from the current system, so the suffering of the many NOW is less real to you than the potential suffering of yourself in a situation that when enacted had objectively raised the quality of life for the vast majority of people who live in the societies where it was enacted, by all objective measures. Is that it?