logoalt Hacker News

robomartinyesterday at 9:43 PM1 replyview on HN

> Democracy is about access

No, not really. I know what you are trying to say, and I fully agree. We need to stop using "democracy" or "democratizing".

Democracy, in it's purest form, is about mob rule --majority rule, if you want to say it in a softer/kinder way. "Democratizing" means giving a mob control of the thing, it does not mean making it accessible to all at all.


Replies

iLemmingyesterday at 10:07 PM

Democracy is not about mob rule, it's about a dialog. Sure, sometimes it becomes heated argumentation and noise, but it's not so much about "ruling". Lincoln in his union address in 1860 said: "I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas."

"Democratization" in a sense is about making things accessible for discussions. "Dictatorship" is the opposing term - things get "dictated" by a single entity - person, political force or a corporation.

show 1 reply