"Democracy, by considering the ignorant to be as important as the well-informed, does not guarantee sensible decisions. Instead the public exaggerate their praise for what they think is good and their condemnation of what they see as bad."
" Democracy thus corrupts ordinary people and creates rulers who see their most important skill as knowing how to influence the "beast" which is demos, the public. "
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
"Over time, though, this boundless freedom degenerates into herd hysteria. Belief in authority atrophies. A spirit of excess takes hold and, eventually, “the state falls sick, and is at war with herself.”
"Tyranny springs from democracy in the same manner democracy springs from oligarchy. Just as the blind pursuit of wealth occasions a thirst for equality, so “the insatiable desire for freedom occasions a demand for tyranny.”
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
"So the shift from democracy to tyranny is simple enough: A surplus of freedom produces an excess of factions and a multiplicity of perspectives, most of which are blinkered by narrow interests. To get elected, those factions have to be flattered, their passions indulged. "
"This is fertile soil for the demagogue, who manipulates the masses to “overmaster democracy,” as Plato put it."
"In this way, it’s the very freedom of democracy that opens the way to tyranny. The love of tolerance devolves into a kind of unraveling licentiousness. Communal bonds wither. "
"When things get bad, as they always do, the people grow restless and yield to a swindling demagogue who cultivates their fears and positions himself as the protector."
