The Problem with Democracy

What are the best things in life? There are three.

1. Leisure: this is the time we spend pursuing things we like to do.
2. Pleasure: this is happiness, enjoyment, fun
3. Flow: this is the feeling of accomplishing things, "the zone", the mental state where you are totally absorbed and totally in control.

The rest of your life is spent in service of these three experiences. The goal is to maximize these and minimize all other things. Can you have too much flow, pleasure and leisure? Do you need some of the drudgery, conflict, suffering and frustration in order to put these into perspective? No one knows for sure. While some also include luxury as a "best thing in life" there is little evidence that this is needed, although a little from time to time can certainly be pleasurable.

People organize into societies and states in an effort to maximize these (and minimize the negatives). The goal is always to increase these goods and to decrease the bads (duty, duress and drudgery). People always look for the loopholes, the ways to beat the system, as most systems distribute the bads with the goods, the so-called freedom with responsibility. Dictatorships can increase the goods at the top and democracies that have large voting poor populations can increase the goods at the bottom. Where there is a large middle class, everything is mostly equitably distributed.

Progressivism in the USA, as championed by some Democrats and the Obama administration, has placed itself behind the increased distribution of goods to the "vulnerable", the "least of us". This is leading to a maximization of leisure in the most poor, so experiencing the bads are no longer required to obtain the benefits of society. With the exception of flow, the Progressives are giving the poorest the benefits of society. While this might seem laudable to the passionate believer in redistribution, it provides a loophole for the logical person who wants to maximize the best parts of life.

The capitalist ethic of work to achieve goods is replaced by the distribution of goods to the vulnerable, which can clearly create a race to the bottom.

This next election cycle will point to which direction our country will take and will help individuals decide how to live their lives. A society that allows the separation of leisure from effort will have reduced effort, as those who desire a good life will follow the lead of politics. If Progressivism has its way, then once a way is found to optimize flow in the unemployed, the destruction of capitalism will be complete. And then, who will fund the goods for the many?

This is precisely the issue discussed by Aristotle 2400 years ago. The modern answer, rule by the intelligensia (such as Harvard grads), is flawed because what is needed is rule by the philosophers who see the balance in things. The intelligent are often not wise, but you already knew that!