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Would you be willing to live under a dictatorship/authortiarian government if?

...if your quality of life significantly improved, as well as other things like a strong economy etc.

I'm not saying I support anything, I'm just getting people's opinions. Democracy has its limits and these limits are evident with the Brexit problem.

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A benevolent dictatorship is better than a democracy, yes.

But it's not something achievable
(edited 4 years ago)
No.
I value personal freedom, socially liberal democracy and have no desire to experience authoritarian government.
That is why I stay away from belarus, china, north korea, the philippines, russia and all religious states.
Democratic countries with a touch of authoritarianism too- like australia, france and thailand.
Original post by londonmyst
No.
I value personal freedom, socially liberal democracy and have no desire to experience authoritarian government.
That is why I stay away from belarus, china, north korea, the philippines, russia and all religious states.
Democratic countries with a touch of authoritarianism too- like australia, france and thailand.


^^ And this is why a dictatorship can't be benevolent, because there will always be people who disagree with it.

I'd personally be happy with a benevolent democracy that made the best possible decisions for the country and its people, but it just wouldn't work because everyone is different. A democracy is the only way of ensuring everyone at least has a chance to get what they want
Original post by londonmyst
No.
I value personal freedom, socially liberal democracy and have no desire to experience authoritarian government.
That is why I stay away from belarus, china, north korea, the philippines, russia and all religious states.
Democratic countries with a touch of authoritarianism too- like australia, france and thailand.

I think the general consensus is though that people in say Belarus and Russia are happy with authoritarianism and flawed democracy because they've never experienced any true form of democracy. That's something that many western scholars have overlooked when looking at what the revolution in Russia achieved.

Of course, most people in Britain are happy with democracy (like myself, although I don't mind some authoritarianism), and this is clear. When Boris johnson prorogued parliament, people were calling him a dictator left right and centre (literally)
nope - value personal freedom and expression
No sorry I think violet nails it here

Original post by BlueIndigoViolet
nope - value personal freedom and expression
Original post by Ferrograd
I think the general consensus is though that people in say Belarus and Russia are happy with authoritarianism and flawed democracy because they've never experienced any true form of democracy. That's something that many western scholars have overlooked when looking at what the revolution in Russia achieved.

Of course, most people in Britain are happy with democracy (like myself, although I don't mind some authoritarianism), and this is clear. When Boris johnson prorogued parliament, people were calling him a dictator left right and centre (literally)

The journalists and students of Belarus that I know don't seem too happy to me.
Most Russians prefer strong leadership with a lot of authoritarianism, although it does seem that Russian voters are finally getting fed up of economic woes and Putin's habit of alliances with rogue regimes like Gaddifi's, Asad's & Tehran.
In the era of social media, low cost travel and globalization- culture is no longer seen as set in stone and traditional practices are not automatically revered by the tech savvy youth proportion of the population.
Original post by MagnumKoishi
A benevolent dictatorship is better than a democracy, yes.

But it's not something achievable

It depends if the benevolent dictatorship machine takes a liking to you or not and whether you are happy for your hard earned tax pounds to pay for the extravagant lifestyles of said dictator and their crony friends.
Reply 9
Avatar for Rakas21
Rakas21
21
Original post by Ferrograd
...if your quality of life significantly improved, as well as other things like a strong economy etc.

I'm not saying I support anything, I'm just getting people's opinions. Democracy has its limits and these limits are evident with the Brexit problem.

I consider this a misnomer. Oil rich city states aside, market democracies are the richest per capita nations almost universally.

The answer however is no, Democracy is a basic liberty and I would both fight for it and if need be die for it.
Original post by BlueIndigoViolet
nope - value personal freedom and expression

Democracy doesn't necessarily mean more personal freedoms for all.

How would a democracy of anarchists work? In place of police, they would have vigilante gangs roaming around. The "freedom" from police ends up costing them the freedom to move in safety.

What democracies allow "sub-democracies" - regions to secede? Did Spain's democracy-ness prevent an authoritarian attack on Catalonian independence by the Spanish majority?

Britain has been a constitutional democracy for centuries. How was democracy for the slaves? The gay British men Britain forcibly castrated? You see, democracy enforces the cultural norms of the majority, and if that is a tyrannical majority, it may as well be an authoritarian state. The lack of a reign of tyranny is due to contemporary cultural norms rather than democracy.
Original post by Rakas21
I consider this a misnomer. Oil rich city states aside, market democracies are the richest per capita nations almost universally.

The answer however is no, Democracy is a basic liberty and I would both fight for it and if need be die for it.

Democracy for all time?

Do you not think that the digital world has exposed the flaws in democracy? Social media has a problem of creeping democracy, i.e. the democratisation of topics other than elections.

People increasingly discount the opinions of experts based on a localised consensus mentality (of social contacts online). Mob mentality is on the rise, aided by the rise of internet forums that democratise thought itself (Reddit the most democratic), with damaging real-world results.

It might have been that electoral democracy was the most favourable system before the information era. But now? Are you sure?
Original post by AngeryPenguin
Democracy for all time?

Do you not think that the digital world has exposed the flaws in democracy? Social media has a problem of creeping democracy, i.e. the democratisation of topics other than elections.

People increasingly discount the opinions of experts based on a localised consensus mentality (of social contacts online). Mob mentality is on the rise, aided by the rise of internet forums that democratise thought itself (Reddit the most democratic), with damaging real-world results.

It might have been that electoral democracy was the most favourable system before the information era. But now? Are you sure?

Those are arguments to amend the franchise, not embrace tyranny.

I am reminded of Star Wars Episode 3 in your views.. 'So this is how liberty dies, to thunderous applause'.
Original post by ByEeek
It depends if the benevolent dictatorship machine takes a liking to you or not and whether you are happy for your hard earned tax pounds to pay for the extravagant lifestyles of said dictator and their crony friends.


Well then by definition it's not "benevolent" lol.

By benevolent I meant one that is good in every conceivable way
Original post by MagnumKoishi
A benevolent dictatorship is better than a democracy, yes.

But it's not something achievable


In theory, a dictatorship or communism never works in practise because it doesn’t take into account greed
Original post by Ferrograd
...if your quality of life significantly improved, as well as other things like a strong economy etc.

I'm not saying I support anything, I'm just getting people's opinions. Democracy has its limits and these limits are evident with the Brexit problem.


Quality of live never improves under a dictatorship
Reply 16
Avatar for Lewito
Lewito
19
What do you mean "brexit problem"?!?! Brexit is going great!
Original post by Greywolftwo
In theory, a dictatorship or communism never works in practise because it doesn’t take into account greed


Of course it doesn't work in practice, hence why you'll see me say in my second post that a democracy is the only option that can work.

My point is that if in a hypothetical situation by some miracle, such a dictatorship that did perfectly work and give everyone what they wanted then I'd support it. I never tried to say its achievable
Original post by Rakas21
Those are arguments to amend the franchise, not embrace tyranny.

I am reminded of Star Wars Episode 3 in your views.. 'So this is how liberty dies, to thunderous applause'.


Democracy, by its nature, cannot 'amend' itself to respond to such a changing social environment, because the changing social environment is one which the majority likes. The only response that is acceptable to voters is to act against foreign powers - perceived or otherwise - manipulating social media. The disintegration of society caused by social media is allowed to carry on unabated - those who would try to tackle it know they would be voted out.

I posit that Trump and Brexit are not anomalies - whatever side you sit on, you have to admit that both sides in each event were a shambles - but a preview of democracy under social media.

I do not say that a form of democracy does not exist that can sensibly deal with the contemporary world. But that the existing democracies are not so equipped, are that amending them would require such a carefully directed shift in society that only an authoritarian power could achieve it.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by MagnumKoishi
A benevolent dictatorship is better than a democracy, yes.

But it's not something achievable

There are quite a few examples of benevolent dictatorships, depending of course on how you define benevolent. If the democracy of Britain counts as benevolent, then so does e.g. the dictator Atatürk.

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