Democracy doesnt work very well.

These thoughts have been germinating in my mind for some time, but I am rapidly reaching the conclusion that democracy does not actually work for the greater good. And the inherent problem is that for everyone who thinks deeply about politics and has a high degree of interest in, and knowledge about, the subject, like most of us here, there are 20 others who are uninterested, lack the time or inclination to think deeply about it, or are just plain stupid and almost entirely ignorant about the subject. And I am not making any partisan point here because the thoughtful, knowledgeable, and intelligent ones exist right across the political spectrum from left to right. But we are vastly outnumbered by all the others. many of whom are susceptible to having their buttons pressed and being told what to think. The tabloid press has now been joined by various partisan broadcast media outlets not to mention numerous dubious sources on the internet, where bad actors paid by rogue or enemy states pump out crap that is useful to them.

And look where this is leading western democracies. Trump as president of America. Boris Johnson as prime minister here. All sorts of dodgy and dubious characters being elected all over the place because of this simple yet brutal fact - when it comes to politics most voters are bloody idiots. And that basic fact - that most voters are bloody idiots - is the inherent flaw with democracy. My friends on the left tend to declare that the solution lies in far better political education in schools, but that will never happen. The powers that be have a vested interest in most voters remaining stupid. Makes them far easier to hoodwink and manipulate. Intelligent people might start laying the blame for all that is wrong on those who are actually in charge and have the power to change things. Stupid people are far easier to persuade to direct their anger at mostly powerless target groups that are easy to vilify. Then the powers that be can win the votes they need from the idiots by promising to get tough on these target groups. It is of course mostly just rhetoric. Because the same easy to vilify target groups are still there, year after year. They need them to be.

So as the lumpen masses direct their anger at those with less power even than themselves - asylum seekers or welfare claimants for example - they are not directing it at those who are really in charge. Because the killer question, the one they fear the masses thinking of let alone asking, is why are our taxes higher than they have ever been yet every service under the sun is so starved of cash that nothing works anymore? And where therefore is all the pigging money going? They need most of us to remain too stupid to think of this, let alone get angry about it. And so, democracy cannot work properly because hidden elites have a vested interest in most people being too stupid to think intelligently about things. Anyone who understands politics is always going to be outvoted by scores of idiots.

Democracy can only really work properly if every voter is informed, thoughtful and intelligent. But nowhere is that ever allowed to be the case. 

What the solution is I do not really know, but I feel sure our nation would be better run if the franchise were restricted to people with at least half a brain and a modicum of knowledge. 

I thus find myself in an intellectual and philosophical bind. My whole politics is based upon being a champion for the struggling millions, a campaigner for a better deal for the masses. Yet democracy serving the interests of an elite few relies upon these masses remaining ignorant and stupid. And in many cases voting against their own best interests because someone has pressed their angry button about someone even lower down. 

Philosophically this leads me into a thought process in tension, between an intense sympathy for the downtrodden, yet at a the same time a  contempt for their malleable stupidity.

Not sure yet where this leads me. But neither am I totally certain anymore that democracy itself is the least bad option. There must be something better than one person one vote when the majority of those persons are idiots.