Thread by @SteB777

1) Regardless of the outcome of the US elections, we need to have a hard deep think about what democracy means. We have developed a form of democracy, which allows rich liars to get power by force of lies and creating fear and hatred.

2) This is not about one side or one ideology winning power. In fact I argue that both political parties and ideologies are the problem not the solution. In fact the very term "winning power" sums up the whole problem. Representing the public interest should not be about power.

3) Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. No person is capable of wielding such power, without it corrupting them.

4) Much of how our societies operate are based on quite arbitrary traditions, often put in place by powerful people to suit powerful people, and not people in general i.e. the public.

5) Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have been around for somewhere between 200-300,000 years. Powerful individuals only started to take control of our societies, maybe 5,000 years, and that was not everywhere.

6) Prior to that leaders had no real power. People followed leaders not because they held some sort of office and had a powerful army to terrorise people and assert their will over others, but because people trusted and respected that leader.

7) Humans have an evolved weakness to follow leaders no matter what, because we evolved in the context of small societies where the type of leader who takes power now, could never have become a leader.

8) When societies were small, nearly everyone knew everyone else in that society from birth. It was impossible for people to pretend to be something they are not, like modern leaders can. People followed those who were the wisest, the most truthful, the best leaders.

9) No modern leader could ever have become a leader in early societies because no one would naturally trust the type of Machiavellian manipulative person who climbs the ladder of power in modern societies.

10) There is absolutely no need for a person to have personal power and much greater wealth than others to fulfil their role of a leader. This tradition of leaders having that personal power and wealth, was something early leaders of larger societies started to award themselves.

11) Unfortunately, the early leaders of societies which had grown bigger started to ensconce themselves, corrupted by their power, and either declared themselves gods, or claimed god or a god appointed them. This is when state religions had great power over people.

12) Over time, over generations, people began to take this for granted. This was how things were, that societies were ruled by an all powerful ruler who had an army and could impose their will over everyone.

13) That being a ruler, carried with it great power and status, and other powerful and wealthy people in our societies would jostle for this power.

14) There is absolutely no reason at all for it to be like this. As I say, it was just a tradition, a quite arbitrary one which arose at a time when people were manipulated by a belief in a powerful god.

15) This was an era of terror. When in life people could be subject to terrible punishments, torture and death if they question the right of this leader to rule. They were led to believe it was even worse in the afterlife.

16) Remember, for 98% of human existence it was never like this and this situation where powerful people who acted like gangsters had never previously existed.

17) For several thousand years people were inculcated and inured to believe that this rule by powerful and ruthless despots were just how society and life was. That it was normal to have this type of all powerful leader people were terrified of.

18) When the wealthy found they could become far more wealthy by organized trade, colonisation and then industrialisation the king type model of rule did not suite this type of economy.

19) New types of government were needed. However, the first types of democracy only allowed men who owned property to vote. They were scared if everyone was allowed to vote, the people would undo this unfair society imposed on them.

20) More people were only allowed to vote when the powerful and wealthy became assured that voting wouldn't change anything, and the powerful and wealthy could continue to control our societies and maintain the status quo.

21) The fear that the people would throw out this unfair system was allayed when the powerful became assured that they could manipulate people to maintain the status quo and only select leaders who the powerful and wealthy approved of.

22) It was discovered that through a bag of quite simple psychological tricks the public could be manipulated into voting only for leaders who really represented the interests of the powerful and wealthy.

23) If anyone who didn't represent the interests of the powerful and wealthy started to gather a following, then through a mixture of character assassination and fearmongering, facilitated by money, it could be ensured that their popularity could be limited.

24) As long as a sizeable rump of the public would follow whatever leader was imposed upon them, simply because they were well known, by dint of wealth or because they were useful to the wealthy, societies could still be controlled.

25) Cliques of the powerful could always control this system through techniques of demagoguery, known about since the first Ancient Greek democracies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demagogue

26) The powerful and wealthy are a bit queasy about demagogues who tend to be crude bullies and liars. But at least demagogues preserve the status quo. Because whilst demagogues like Trump pretend to be fighting the elite, they are in it for themselves.

27) Demagogues are sort of like sticking plasters for the wealthy and powerful. Something to hold everything together when the normal methods of keeping power and preserving the status quo are wavering.

28) Demagogues and demagoguery is only possible when the political system is about personal power and the ability to make money. No would be demagogue would be interested if the position of leader came with no personal power or wealth creation potential.

29) Leadership is just effective management. We really don't need leaders who are immune from prosecution and who have the power to manipulate the system for themselves and who are not properly accountable.

30) Again, we are led to believe this is normal, this is how it's always been and has to be, but it really isn't at all.

31) History shows that this type of self-obsessed, power obsessed, wealth obsessed ruler is not a particularly good leader. COVID-19 has more than demonstrated that these powerful rulers operating on behalf of the wealthy, are not good leaders.

32) The big lie is that positions of power have to come with power and wealth to attract the right type of leader. Donald Trump and the other incompetents running our societies, prove that this attracts the wrong sort of leader.