I will begin this post as I began my previous one on the topic: The threat to democracy has never been greater. Or has it? Yes, it probably has. But that is not the point. The point is that it is broken. Or is it? Maybe it is functioning exactly how the nature of the thing dictates. But that does not “vibe” with the great lovers of democracy, for which it is this perfect thing that the wreckers and saboteurs are ruining. So I will share a short thought or two of fixing what is broken, although this is by no mean an exhaustive post. Back in the day I used to call these posts Pie Ponders.

To start, it must be broken, because if it is not broken, if it is functioning befitting its nature, then the illusion goes away. And one might need to … gasp… limit its scope. This is a big nono for many democracy lovers. Limits would mean they don’t get to force their views on others when they are in the 51%. And forcing their views on other makes them positively gleeful. So for most, democracy being broken means they do not win and fixing it would imply them winning. That their views get voted. That their idea of democracy – everything they like nothing they don’t – shines through.

Wait a minute, you will say. Isn’t the point of democracy people choosing what they wish? Well obviously no. It’s only when people choose right that counts. Wrong choice is no choice at all. So our democracy must be fixed and then made quite bulletproof. And fix it we will. But how? That is the (40% of GDP +/- 10%) dollar question, for most countries.

So how do we fix it? Get more people to vote is popular, though people tend to suck at voting. Public choice theory addresses this, as many other do. Saying this offends the people who think the main fix in democracy is getting more people to vote, irrespective of whether they have any idea about anything. In the end voter knowledge is irrelevant, getting more people voting means, off course, getting the right people, certainly not the wrong people. The people who vote with us.

Educate the voters – education meaning just presenting the right ideas and suppressing the wrong ones. People will not develop critical thinking skills if they can just read the wrong stuff willly nilly.

And then there is the big one. The panacea. The Ultimate Solution. Get money out of politics, naturally.

The more government taxes and spends and regulates, the more it decides the flow of money in a country. And so the government picks winners and losers. In a sense politics is money. How can you take money out of politics without greatly reducing tax and spend?

Campaign finance reform! That is but a fragment of money in politics and not a very big one. All sorts of rules against campaign money exist in many a country, and still democracy does not seem to work any better. What about politicians who become consultants after giving favors to people? O give speeches for tens of millions wink wink. Or their kids get cushy jobs? Or getting to use a friend’s yacht or house or ehm… island? Or good old fashioned bags of money? When politicians decide who profits, they will be bought. Because they are power hungry individuals of low morals. Power not only corrupts, but it attracts the ones prone to corruption.

And while we talk money in politics let’s address the elephant in the room. Left wing politics has a component that is basically vote for me and I give you money. If I use my money to buy an advertisement, well that’s wrong you see, but promising other people’s money is just great. Nothing takes money out of politics like your entire platform being vote for me and I give you money. Higher pensions, more welfare, free college or free daycare, debt cancellation and more can be simply translated to vote for me and I give you money.

But government spending does not apparently count as money in politics. Just the “dark money”. The ones that are donated to a campaign or other, although I have seen little correlation between money spent and success of a campaign.

“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators,” – P. J O’Rourke, the based version.