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Geekery Today: posts from September 4th, 2007
Libido dominandi (posted 4 September 2007)
An excellent point from Richard Chappell at Philosophy, et cetera (2007-09-02):
One often hears that the ideal government would be a “benevolent dictatorship” - the wise ruler would make the right decision every time, and implement it with a minimum of fuss. But if we are going to engage in such wishful thinking, why stop at one perfect person? Why not have an ideal democracy, where the populace would make the right decision every time, and implement it with a minimum of fuss? How is the perfect autocrat any more ideal than the perfectly united demos? Or how about a perfect anarchy, where everyone simply does what they ought, without need for legal coercion? So long as we’re guaranteed our perfect outcomes in any case, why favour the most repulsive (dictatorial) process? (Is it because the wish is really to be the dictator oneself?)
—Richard Chappell, Philosophy, et cetera (2007-09-02): Ideal Rulers
