• killea@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It was a Simpson’s reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xop8QLIJCpY

      I should have known I’d be downvoted for that. Was just hoping folks would figure out that I was decrying lobbying but I guess I gotta explain myself better.

      But yea, legitimate democracy is kind of a pipe dream outside of ancient Greece. I’d say people in the United States live under a crony-capitalist dominated representative republic. I wish we lived under a socialist-capitalist representative republic with short term limits and built in incentives for education and voter participation. We can all have our dream.

      • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Sorry about that. I missed the reference, though I see you’ve updated your comment with the link. Anyway, yes, electoral reform is desperately needed.

      • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Its a good idea, though the application is somewhat limited. Most government business is complex, boring and technical, but direct democracy is feasible for a few issues that the public is invested in. The US, at least, already has some direct democracy in the form of ballot questions. However, too many ballot questions would be exhausting and virtually no one would be able to keep up. No, we have representative democracy for good reason. Rather than direct democracy, we need electoral reform. Various forms of proportional representation might tick your boxes, or perhaps something more radical like non-geographic elections.