Robert Heinlein on aliens being allowed to vote
Posted by freedomforall 5 years, 1 month ago to Philosophy
“I think a world democracy would be a very fine thing and I ask that you believe me when I say I would willingly lay down my life to accomplish it. I also think it would be a very fine thing for the lion to lie down with the lamb, but I am reasonably certain that only the lion would get up. If we try to form an actual world democracy, we’ll be the lamb in the setup.
There are a lot of good, kindly people who are internationalists these days. Nine out of ten of them are soft in the head and the tenth is ignorant. If we set up a worldwide democracy, what will the electorate be? Take a look at the facts: Twelve hundred million Chinese with no more concept of voting and citizen responsibility than a flea; a billion Hindus who aren’t much better indoctrinated; God knows how many in the EU who believe in God knows what; the entire continent of Africa only semicivilized; 100 million Japanese who really believe that they are Heaven-ordained to rule; our Spanish-American friends who might trail along with us and might not, but who don’t understand the Bill of Rights the way we think of it. No, it won’t wash. It’s preposterous to talk about a world democracy for many years to come.
What are you going to do about the billions of people who have no experience in, nor love for, democracy?"
- General Manning from Solution Unsatisfactory
There are a lot of good, kindly people who are internationalists these days. Nine out of ten of them are soft in the head and the tenth is ignorant. If we set up a worldwide democracy, what will the electorate be? Take a look at the facts: Twelve hundred million Chinese with no more concept of voting and citizen responsibility than a flea; a billion Hindus who aren’t much better indoctrinated; God knows how many in the EU who believe in God knows what; the entire continent of Africa only semicivilized; 100 million Japanese who really believe that they are Heaven-ordained to rule; our Spanish-American friends who might trail along with us and might not, but who don’t understand the Bill of Rights the way we think of it. No, it won’t wash. It’s preposterous to talk about a world democracy for many years to come.
What are you going to do about the billions of people who have no experience in, nor love for, democracy?"
- General Manning from Solution Unsatisfactory
Allowing non citizens to vote is the quickest way to devolve a society into anarchy or mob rule. If anyone is allowed to vote, the largest give0away wins.
//////////////////////witness the European Union. it is starting to falter and fail after a very short time because of sovereignty issues and immigration. imagine if 1/2 the world is a republic and the other half is a despotic society. the immigration problem would be unmanageable.
Just some idle thought for your consideration and contemplation as to the proper way forward.
+1
Please to meet you. Hope you guess my name.
The road to hel...
It's a dream for the future and as I said likely not achievable even in my grandchildren's lifetime.
The immigrant who honestly wants things to change, and assimilates into the American culture is a rare breed. They have to withstand resistance from relatives who don't understand why change is necessary in order to succeed. They are often viewed as a traitor to their own culture, and can find themselves abandoned by friends and family. The legal immigrant American who succeeds has to fight battles that the native born don't.
All of life’s animals should lay down RIGHT NOW in the wonderful global Utopia of democratic fairness.
/s
What does not work is for a species to feed off its own kind. Direct cannibalism is seldom practiced any more among humans, but every other kind of mutual destruction and exploitation is rampant. The ancient formula against stealing, killing, coveting has been rationalized away. That some segments of populations dominate other segments, by force or deceit, is the standard practice world-wide. "Kin survival" is part of our software, and a glitch in the program no longer knows how to sort out what is kin: human vs. animal variant, and human vs. tribal variant. The program's prime directive was to prevent mating with other species, and it has extended to splintering humans into “us” vs. “them” on grounds of shape and color, and ideas and beliefs. These programs run deep; those memes have taken on a life of their own, like the microbe in the brain of the ant it controls for its own life cycle, and in humans they even obliterate what may at one time have been a valuable function, namely the power of reason and abstract thought (sometimes called free will). Instead, an emotional app is running reactions, decisions, attitudes, preferences… and global politics and policies.
I can only wonder whether the human race still has a critical mass of objective, rational, mental reserves in stock to reprogram itself. The resort to notions of altruism is a desperate attempt to detour from mutual destruction, while our predator memes are wrangling to convert the willing into their new prey.
Objective thinkers really need a new frontier, one that is too dangerous for looters/predators to take the risks, since there are plenty of prey available on low-risk terra.
For those of us who have read Atlas Shrugged, there is-
I will not be a slave or a slave owner, and refusing to steal.
Do the values of Objectivism promote survival (individual, family, species) in the struggle as described?
The nnly point at which we should seek a global government is after we have colonized other planets.
Jan
PS I was disappointed in this topic, because I thought that it was going to be about Martians and Membari at the voting booths.- 'freedom' - what were you thinking of! ;>)
I agree with you on world government. Competition is what creates a better universe. When I think of a single government for the world, I am reminded of the Star Wars scenes of the senate being manipulated by the soon-to-be emperor.
I don't want my liberty stolen by a misguided Jar Jar Binks either.
Ever hear of a "People's Republic?" It is not the people who are in power. It's not even remotely like the Republic we would be flushing down the toilet along with The United States Constitution.
But, hey, man! We're a free people! Let's all thrust a fist salute high into the air and give a mighty happy shout of "Power to the people!" and lock step march singing and cheering as we let ourselves be led into a Brave New Utopian World of socialist slavery.
(Just practicing for the next person who wants to tell me dino how wonderful socialism and/or globalism is). .
But me dino did just think of how the deceased John McCain could play hell with his one vote.
Yeah, I know vote in Congress is on a whole different level.
If the USA couldn't stay free and a Republic, there is no chance that a world government would work.
The problem is consolidated power and influence. That's why President George Washington warned us not to allow Political parties.
We might have a chance of getting the USA back if a Meeting of the states is called to Repeal and Replace Amendments to the Constitution that would bring it back to limiting the accumulation of Power as it was supposed to accomplish.
Here is the full plan www.TheSocietyProject.org
It turns out that joining is not a good description, voluntary slavery is closer.
Now, there is the European Commission, a government that cannot be voted out.
It has the sole right to initiate legislation.
It does not submit itself to elections.
It is an appointed body of bureaucrats and failed national politicians.
Neither national parliaments, British, French, or German or other, nor voters can reject or amend the Commission’s laws and regulations or a decision of the European court.
European law is superior to what are still quaintly called “national laws.”
Suggestion: It seems there is a sort of Laffer curve operating here. If there is no vote, then some kind of dictatorship. If 'too many' people vote on issues they have no interest in, and no concern for, then, the same.