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What if we practiced direct democracy?

Direct democracy (or participatory democracy in the jargon of the early 21st century) is the literal application of the myth of the Enlightenment.

The myth of enlightenment is based on the following hypothesis: if we train citizens, provide them with a decent means of subsistence through non-subordinate work, and allow them to debate collective issues, then they will make decisions adapted.

This doesn't work for two reasons:

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It is the reflection of a positivist vision of the individual which conjectures that turpitudes are caused by insecurity and ignorance. However, the limits of human nature resulting from our genetic heritage, which must be controlled by social organization, are entirely different, namely social ambition and cognitive dissonance.

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This ignores technological progress, the counterpart of which is that certain questions require in-depth study which cannot be carried out individually by each citizen.

Go deeper

View question 'Why is the philosophy of enlightenment a dangerous myth?', then the justification 'What is a human?'.

See chapters 4 and 7 from the book From capital to reason.

 

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