Mob Rule In Switzerland
“We should be more like Switzerland,” says the direct democracy advocate.
Meanwhile in Switzerland:
Switzerland considers JAILING anyone who heats rooms above 19C for up to three years if the country is forced to ration gas due to Ukraine war
The country could also give fines of up to 3,000 Swiss Francs (£2,667)
In gas-heated buildings, water could not be heated to more than 60C (140F)
Radiant heaters would be banned and saunas and swimming pools would have to be cold
[…]
The measures are stated in the Federal Law on National Economic Supply, referred to by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (EAER) in an official document.
It has been predicted that the proposed new measures could cause challenges and disputes, leaving courts busy and the government dealing with a new ‘grey area’, according to the report.
Regarding the potential new measures, the cantons of Switzerland have until September 22 to submit any concerns.
[…]
Advising the government, the report states that senior police officer Fredy Fassler has told them to ‘only order measures that can be implemented, and above all, controlled.’
And he has said that the proposed new measures should be implemented with a ‘sense of proportion’, emphasising that he does not think police should go from door to door.
Mr Fassler used the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, stating according to the report that there had been a ‘culture of denunciation.’
His sentiment was echoed by SVP Economics Minister Guy Parmelin who last Wednesday said: ‘We are not a police state’, when referring to the measures, saying that he thinks the police can do spot checks to ensure people are sticking to them.
Mr Fassler recommended that it might be more favourable to discuss giving administrative fines to people instead of shelling out for expensive criminal proceedings.
An entity cannot both be the ruled and the rulers. It’s fanciful to think otherwise.
I still remember when people (self-proclaimed right-wing people, nonetheless) would say we need to become more like Switzerland and their “true democracy” (direct democracy).
Yeah, mob rule certainly worked out well for them. They’ve lost their worldwide neutrality status due to the Russian conflict, they suffered under a “culture of denunciation” for the past two years, they were boot stomped under mob-led covid mandates that were far worse than even the lunacy exhibited in the United States, and now this.
No thanks.
Now we wait for the new public denunciation rallies. I am thrilled to have a front-row seat to watch the logical progression of direct democracy descend into mob rule.
Which should come as no surprise, as anyone with a penchant for history recognizes that we’ve known about mob rule for at least two thousand years at this point, and the whole reason a republic was first recommended two thousand years ago was to avoid the fate of direct democracy:
Polybius appears to have coined the term ochlocracy in his 2nd century BC work Histories (6.4.6). He uses it to name the “pathological” version of popular rule, in opposition to the good version, which he refers to as democracy.
Ancient Greek political thinkers regarded ochlocracy as one of the three “bad” forms of government (tyranny, oligarchy, and ochlocracy) as opposed to the three “good” forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. They distinguished “good” and “bad” according to whether the government form would act in the interest of the whole community (“good”) or in the exclusive interests of a group or individual at the expense of justice (“bad”).
The Polybian terminology for forms of state in ancient Greek philosophy has become customary. Polybius’ predecessor, Aristotle, distinguished between different forms of democracy, stating that those disregarding the rule of law devolved into ochlocracy. The Polybian distinction between democracy and ochlocracy is absent in the works of Plato, who considered democracy to be a degraded form of government.
Polybius, two thousand years ago:
When a state has weathered many great perils and subsequently attains to supremacy and uncontested sovereignty, it is evident that under the influence of long established prosperity, life will become more extravagant and the citizens more fierce in their rivalry regarding office and other objects than they ought to be. As these defects go on increasing, the beginning of the change for the worse will be due to love of office and the disgrace entailed by obscurity, as well as to extravagance and purse-proud display; and for this change the populace will be responsible when on the one hand they think they have a grievance against certain people who have shown themselves grasping, and when, on the other hand, they are puffed up by the flattery of others who aspire to office. For now, stirred to fury and swayed by passion in all their counsels, they will no longer consent to obey or even to be the equals of the ruling caste, but will demand the lion’s share for themselves. When this happens, the state will change its name to the finest sounding of all, freedom and democracy, but will change its nature to the worst thing of all, mob-rule.
But, hey, let’s just keep trying the exact same thing repeatedly and hope it works this time.
At least one Brit gets it:
Inflation. It’s got nothing to do with reckless money printing (QE) since the crash of 2008 or the worldwide lockdown. No, it’s all Putin’s fault.
The war in Ukraine. It’s got nothing to do with the US orchestrated 2014 coup in Kiev, or NATO advancing right up to Russia’s doorstep. No, it’s all Putin’s fault.
Energy costs rising. It’s got nothing to do with closing down coal fired power stations in favour of renewables that cannot work in the middle of winter. No, it’s all Putin’s fault.
Those are the beliefs of the average. And under the direct democratic mob, all that matters is that average.
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