Amerika

Back in days of yore, the old guys used to observe something about people who consistently did the same stupid things and got the same stupid results: “He just couldn’t stop himself.”

When the guy who was no longer new on the job picked the ineffectual but easy method over doing the job right, the grey heads would shake. He could not stop himself from doing the stupid thing because there is something wrong in his head, whether temporary (psychology) or permanent (psychiatry, i.e. “brain chemistry”).

Eventually you had to just fire the idiot because he would not change his behavior. You could tell him how to do it better, but eventually he reverted to form. This kind of essentialism factors large in conservative thinking: some are born to sweet delight, some to endless night, but everyone just acts out their DNA programming.

Many in democracy now find themselves wondering why democracy cannot stop itself from doing certain unpopular things, like having open borders and expensive social welfare programs. Most of the people in these nations oppose these things, but politicians do the opposite.

There are three points to consider, reading democracy technically and not in terms of how it is presented:

1. The Swing Vote

   The diversity vote is a swing vote. No one is going to go against that because they will lose the election. It makes sense to view democracy as bidding for power based on favors granted to special interests. Diversity is one of those special interests.

2. Human Rights

   Also called “civil rights,” this means the right of the individual over society. If an individual is not made equal by some government action, it is considered bad. For this reason, if people show up, they must be treated as equal citizens even though they are not citizens. Any action to ban them coming also violates human rights.

3. The Economy

   What happens when you raise the cost of your labor? You cannot compete except in the luxury products and services markets, which means that lots of everyday manufacturing and office work goes overseas where it is affordable. To keep wages low and profits high, governments import foreigners; this also allows the tax base to increase.

What we see here is that the needs of the system — that complex entropy of a mesh of laws and rules as well as special interests and previous obligations, including to international capital — have outweighed anything the voters can do. These things are part of the system and unless you have regime change, will persist.

Even more, the voters can be counted on to renew them. If you tell the voters that immigrants are necessary for benefits for the voters, suddenly the voters get very pro-immigrant. If you mention higher taxes unless more diversity shows up, the voters change their minds.

Under democracy, people have strapped themselves into a system which is hurtling toward the wall but cannot turn because to do so is to self-destruct, even if destruction of civilization is the destination toward which it speeds.

Tags: democracy, diversity, immigration