Socrates predicted the rise of His Trumpness !

[Pluvious]

What an insightful thinker was Socrates.
He feared the power of demagoguery upon the general populace.

[lapfog_1]

1. The only problem is how one is qualified to vote

Trump's Chief Adviser (Bannon) would have it go back to the days of land ownership.

Education sounds great, but what level? Would you have to take a test?

[Equinox Moon]

4. No tests. Yes, to required class attendance over several years.

Required civics curriculum to include, "How to prepare to vote."

Public education classes, "How to prepare to vote."

[immoderate]

2. So too, was Ray Davies...

--imm

[heaven05]

3. well democracy

in this nation has been greatly undermined by money and now by the ignorant, white racist, very unwashed and washed(corporate CEO's and the very rich) people. All killed by the unwashed brownshirts of the New Nazi Party of AmeriKKKa will be like Socrates, a martyr to the truth.

[nolabels]

5. The idea that millions of people will vote an irrational choice isn't whats going on

Moreover it's seen to we are really not given any choices on purpose

I look at like they have finally done it. They took away the better choice of not too much choice and saddled us with a real piece of crap. When you show people choices they could have and then take it away giving them something bad. The normal reaction is something else bad and sometimes unexpected from the recipients that have to handle the goods. Inversely the amount of time the scorn will last is often much longer than original exchange. Or could be sometimes less if it's determined the injuring parties are a lesser equal.

There is also a difference between philosophical philosophy and practical philosophy

Oh, and on edit. If you know real bigoted people, the really racial kind. You would know this IS the backlash from them, Trump is what they delivered back after eight years of them hating it. That is how it works

[paleotn]

6. Jefferson said it best....

"An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people."

Without that counterbalance to demagoguery, Socrates's fears become reality. Thus Trump and a long, ugly list of American, populist nut jobs.

We are by no means an educated citizenry and I think it's gotten worse. I'm a documentary junkie, but cannot stomach American documentaries anymore, particularly on science topics, since everything is now written for f'ing second graders. Compare something by BBC or CBC to anything NOVA has done in the last 10 years and you'll see what I mean. Their Making of North America made me want to throw something at the fucking TV within the first 10 minutes. I love Neil Degrasse Tyson, but just couldn't bring myself to watch more than a few snippets of the Cosmos remake. I realize he has to interpret the subject matter for a mass audience, but Jesus H. freaking Christ on a fucking stick!!! And don't even get me started on local and national news programs.

Yes, I am elitist and damn proud of it. It's the educated who actually make democracy work, not the rubes.

[Pluvious]

7. And we're now just realizing, that...

...Idiotogracy wasn't a fictional comedy, but a future documentary !