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From: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Politics and Ethics--Socialism,
Message-ID: <923@cybvax0.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 3-Feb-86 15:57:54 EST
Article-I.D.: cybvax0.923
Posted: Mon Feb  3 15:57:54 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 6-Feb-86 21:48:51 EST
References: <486@whuts.UUCP> <101500008@uiucdcs> <902@cybvax0.UUCP> <411@ubvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Organization: Cybermation, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Lines: 32
Summary: 

In article <411@ubvax.UUCP> tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch) writes:
> >The market is not a political system, because income and wealth are only
> >components of power.  Political systems need not cater to the wealthy: they
> >need to cater to the sources of their power.  That's the whole idea behind
> >democracies (or democratic republics): the recognition that there is
> >real power in mere numbers.  Because poor men can kill rich men: it
> >may not be an even ratio, but the worse it gets, the better the chances
> >of the poor.
> 
> Too cynical, Mike.  If the power of numbers were all that were needed for
> democracy, China would have been a democracy for thousands of years.  And
> there hasn't been enough historical time to tell if democracy is the
> most stable or successful answer to a "recognition" that there is
> "real power" (whatever that is) in mere numbers.

You misunderstand.  There is power in mere numbers: however it is diffuse,
inefficient, and weak compared to more direct and brutal forms of power.

In order to observe weak forces, one must control for stronger forces.
In colonial America, the abundance of essentially free resources and sparse
population diverted attention from power over people to exploitation of the 
resources.  Oppressive government just didn't pay well when the governed
could just up and move far enough away that it was inefficient to govern
them.  This hasn't been the case in China during recorded history, so
it's not surprising that democracy didn't arise there.

The wisdom of our system lies in the amplification of democratic force
through a traditional bureaucratic system.  This allows us peak power
while retaining responsiveness and subtlety of control.
-- 

Mike Huybensz		...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh