What went wrong in the West?

[Neith]

Why does that matter? Most people don't have the brains to make this decision, so their opinion is unimportant. -- you do realize you're arguing for an explicitly utilitarian, modern view?

Then what you have is almost a tyranny, because some people think they are more intelligent than others, and so they run the country the way they want to. As already pointed out, the majority of the people in the middle ages were not entitled to an education, but I fail to see how this affects their intelligence. Granted, they are not able to read or right, but that doesn't mean that their thinking is of any less value. Just because somebody can study politics, philosophy, science, etc, does not mean that they are super intelligent, indeed, half the time it inflates the size of their head, not their brain.

yes democracy sucks, but it has at least given a lot more people the opportunity to education, whether it be a good education or not. I do not see a satisfactory conclusion anymore (makes me sound old, sorry) as most theories that I have studied have flaws. Granted, I haven't studied that many.

 

[derek]

Then what you have is almost a tyranny, because some people think they are more intelligent than others, and so they run the country the way they want to. As already pointed out, the majority of the people in the middle ages were not entitled to an education, but I fail to see how this affects their intelligence. Granted, they are not able to read or right, but that doesn't mean that their thinking is of any less value. Just because somebody can study politics, philosophy, science, etc, does not mean that they are super intelligent, indeed, half the time it inflates the size of their head, not their brain.

yes democracy sucks, but it has at least given a lot more people the opportunity to education, whether it be a good education or not. I do not see a satisfactory conclusion anymore (makes me sound old, sorry) as most theories that I have studied have flaws. Granted, I haven't studied that many.

I believe the Handsome, homosexual African American, otherwise known as Infoterror p) just means a more pragmatic way of political organisation.

It makes sense to me that some are more able than others and that the masses are either ignorant or stupid, so they need led. Issues of "freedom" and "liberty" mean nothing to the majority unless they are told to value them.

It does not always sit pleasantly for me either, but it's pretty clear democracy does not work and that exploring the avenues of "freedom", "liberty" etc etc have just left us in a decaying world.

 

[petehis kahn]

They had a healthier all-around philosophy. Did you just make an error in the above and attempt to conflate political decision making with philosophy? Surely you wouldn't make such an amateurish blunder!

Because most people don't care about politics, democracy is and always will be a failure. In the middle ages, a better system of a government and a complete philosophy prevailed. People were in tune with that and thus more in touch than us moderns are.

You yourself mentioned political thought in one of your arguments; I was merely including it as a catch all to your original complaints.

But nice attempts at arguing there. I am very unimpressed as per normal with everything you say.

Once again you have your history mixed up... to say that a peasant in the middle era cared more about thought than the average person in today’s time does is just...just wrong.

I get it man, we all get it.... we get it from your posts that you have a very romantic view of the middle era. When I was a teenager I thought it would be pretty good to go back to an era like that, but I outgrew it when I actually studied that time period.

Your original article from ANUS.com was about the average person being a foolish vapidness of intellectual thought and pursuit, there has never been a time when the average person has been worried about that kind of thing in the west... never.

I suppose people in the middle period could think freely without the worry of religious persecution, oh wait my mistake they couldn't. I suppose most people could read the many great works that were written in that period, oh wait no they couldn't.

Your entire argument is wrong, well at least your strange beliefs over how people thought 1000 years ago. Average people remember, not the great thinkers.... the original article focussed on the average person.

I would also like to hear why you believe a feudal system is a better system of government than democracy. Do you honestly believe that God chooses kings or something as stupid as that? You are hardly going to get the right man for the job in a system such as that, now are you. That time period had some fairly poor rulers.

Ok I just want to make sure I get this.... you are saying that people who couldn't read, spent all their time toiling in the dirt trying to feed themselves and lived under a fair amount of oppression were better philosophical thinkers than people of today.

 

[petehis kahn]

I believe the Handsome, homosexual African American, otherwise known as Infoterror p) just means a more pragmatic way of political organisation.

It makes sense to me that some are more able than others and that the masses are either ignorant or stupid, so they need led. Issues of "freedom" and "liberty" mean nothing to the majority unless they are told to value them.

It does not always sit pleasantly for me either, but it's pretty clear democracy does not work and that exploring the avenues of "freedom", "liberty" etc etc have just left us in a decaying world.

Of course some are more able than others and of course the masses are ignorant and stupid, but that has always been the way.

The hoi polloi as the ancient greeks referred to them.

What is important to the masses is themselves, it always has been and probably always will be. Yes, I would love it if the Hoi Polloi cared more about *freedom* and *liberty* than say things that entertain them or useless crap but alas looking over the history of mankind (at least the history of the west) I think its probably best that you don't hold your breath.