Democracy or Epistocracy?

[Siren]

Needless to say, a lot of his philosophy is flawed (especially looking at it today), or things that I don't necessarily agree with;

Yes, we also have to take into account that he held a grudge towards democracy, because he thought it was to blame for Socrates' death.

I do however fully agree with the part I wrote about earlier - ruling shouldn't really be about aqcuiring wealth and power for yourself, but rather making your country and its citizens prosper.

Yes, i totally agree with that too.

And you're not the first Greek I've come across who stands up for democracy So I'd say one's country's history shapes one's view of these things...

Education has a lot to do with it too (in the sense that education is closely connected with a country's history). Once, in high-school, i dared say that a benevolent dictator would be a good thing, and the teacher started looking at me all weirded-out and gave me a good lecture on it.

 

[Siren]

Is it laziness that keeps people from taking action? Is it because these days we take democracy for granted here? A lot of people don't even bother voting. "Not interested in politics" they say, or "I was too hungover to make it before they closed".

You do know where the word "idiot" comes from? From the word "&#953;&#948;&#953;&#974;&#964;&#951;&#962;" <idi&#959;tes> which used to mean "the common citizen, ie not the public man" in ancient greek (and still means the same pretty much).
And according to my dictionary "&#953;&#948;&#953;&#974;&#964;&#951;&#962;" today means:
a) the common citizen
b) the man who represents personal economic interests, not national or social ones.
c) MED: person who suffers from idioteia, mentally retarded





As for your other points, it seems you do know how it is to have that high level of political corruption and massive stupidity in your country i talked about (in fact, it seems even worse in your case).

 

[MagSec4]

Offtopic a bit, the form of government I respect most is the tribal system of the native Americans. In such, the tribes are ruled by the elders ..the most experienced and wisest of the population.

 

[marduk1507]

Yeah, that reminds me a bit of communitarism with its concept of shared values (well, there is "some" connection). The problem is that when the elders decide, everybody must follow their decision, however cruel it may be. It may be essential for the survival of a community, but I doubt it would work in a large society. The elders really care about their folks, their options of doing "politics" (in the pejorative sense) are very limited. But in a state governed by politicians the tribal system would end up in a massacre imo.