Practical Morality, Part 2

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all those others that have been tried.

Winston Churchill 

(The second of two parts. Read the first installment here.)

Politics & Science

I have a funny little feeling that Churchill actually knew a small bit about politics. According to dear, old Winston, democracy sucks. But why does it suck? And does it necessarily suck?

A full analysis of these questions could run into thousands of pages, and obviously stretches far beyond any area in which I could claim expertise, but for now at least, I want to point out just one aspect of democracy's poor performance to date that can most definitely be fixed. That is, the failure so far of both politicians and the electorate to explicitly recognize the necessarily rational basis for morality.

Practical Morality, Part 1

(The first of two parts. Part 2 is here.)

The Social Contract

Where-ever you are right now, take a quick look around. Do a quick survey of all the stuff you can see. Think about the number of things you have around you that other people have made. If you are in your own home, then great, the experiment works even better - the things around you probably belong to you, you make some kind of use of them, and quite possibly your life would be less satisfying without them. Some of these things may even be, if not essential for life, indispensable for a comfortable modern existence.