alt Hacker News> imagine a few hundred million people getting angry within one election cycle
This isn't hard to imagine? We'll elect someone, they will put in place new policies. Maybe they will help, maybe they won't.
Nice thing about real democracies, you don't actually need pitchforks.
Replies
geraneum • today at 7:53 PM
Yeah, nobody likes the pitchforks but “maybe they won’t” is not really an option for hungry people.
> Nice thing about real democracies, you don't actually need pitchforks.
Democracy is not something inherent in any society. It’s a tool wielded by the people.
toofy • today at 7:25 PM
this is only true if people know their voices matter.
if their voices are overrun by the powerful, the pitchforks come back out.
Said democracy does have to be real, though. If we're talking about that country between two oceans that waged armed conflicts almost constantly since its very inception, has supported or helped put in place straight-up dictatorships not that long ago, and sports one of the highest wealth inequality in the West, well... I'd think long and hard before I call that a real democracy.