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diff --git a/phil/dembase.7 b/phil/dembase.7 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b2c421 --- /dev/null +++ b/phil/dembase.7 @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +.Dd January 1, 1970 +.Dt dembase phil +.Os Runxi Yu +.Sh NAME +.Nm dembase +.Nd Democracy: Fundamentals (Unfinished) +.Sh DESCRIPTION +.Pp +*Unless otherwise specified, "democracy" in this article refers to +representative democracy. "Country" can additionally refer to other +regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, +provinces in some countries, etc.* +.Pp +We usually think of "democracy" as people influencing the policies of +the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to +make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, +representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back +two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative +democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some +forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the +field that are making the actual policies. +.Pp +The Chinese term for democracy is "民主". The first character, "民", +means "people"; the second, "主", ascin "主人" means "owner". +You could understand it as saying "the people of the country own the +country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)". But at the same time, +"主" as in "自主" means "do things themselves", i.e. the right not +to be interfered by others while doing their own business. +.Pp +This is, of course, not the proper definition for democracy; democracy +is just saying that the general public ultimately runs the country. But +we could take the time to appreciate how with democracy we usually end +up with liberty and how we take personal liberty for granted. +.Pp +In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting +prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, +that the decisions of elected experts are for "running the +country"---I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general +public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would +be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts +and crimes). The "will of the people", represented by the government, +have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or +mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when +things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or +the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people +should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued +that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively +doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where +an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, +medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the +distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) +.Pp +People overemphasize the importance of democracy. In fact, democracy is +in my opinion less important than liberty---though in practice indeed +liberty wouldn't survive for long without democracy. +.Pp +Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of +government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life +and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The "privacy" and +"personal liberty" arguments don't stand up well against this as +it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly +on the line. [I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are +placing in many states for a different reason.](abortion.html) +.Pp +Modern populism (which is a poorly-defined term but does have the +following general scope) gives the power of deciding everything that +happens in the country to the people. This is bad in two ways. (1) The +general public often make uninformed and un-thought-through decisions +and are easily influenced. (2) The government, in this case directly the +collective decision of the people, is stepping its feet into the +personal lives of people. While it is democratic, it doesn't give +people liberty, creating a tyranny of the majority, and at the same time +making uninformed decisions which are better made by experts which +people elect. +.Pp +In future articles, I will discuss more practical issues in democracy +and society, especially on corruption of representatives, issues with +the modern voting system, etc. |