off-topic political meandering (was Re: B.I.O.S. to lock out...)

[Henry Spencer]

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003, JoeHill wrote:
> You really ought to read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United
> States". He provides several case studies which support the thesis that,
> left alone by authority, people do *not* revert to a Lord-of-the-Flies
> type existence, but in fact automagically build their own stable,
> cohesive, and democratic communities.

In general (there are exceptions), people left alone do self-organize into
communities.  But claiming that those are automatically stable, cohesive,
and democratic is pushing it pretty hard.  Instability, factions, and
fragmentation are common.  And initially-democratic organizations show a
strong tendency to turn feudal, with the leader-by-common-consent turning
into a permanent lord, unless a particularly thoughtful leader or lucky
early history makes people codify *rules* that protect dissent and ensure
access to the political process.

Also, purely democratic communities can be viciously oppressive toward
minorities and disenfranchised groups.  Kings wonder whether the people
are behind them; an elected leader knows they are.

People make a lot of noise about how wonderful democracy is, but in fact
the West's key innovations were constitutional government and separation
of powers, not democracy.  Democracies can go bad as easily as any other
form of government; Hitler came to power by being elected.

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       henry-lqW1N6Cllo0sV2N9l4h3zg at public.gmane.org

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