 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Democracy is desirable, not because the ordinary voter has any political wisdom, but because any section of mankind which has a monopoly of power is sure to invent theories designed to prove that the rest of mankind had better do without the good things of life. This is one of the least amiable traits of human nature, but history shows that there is no adequate protection against it except the just distribution of political power throughout all classes and both sexes.
Source: Bertrand Russell: On vicarious asceticism (written in Aug. 3, 1932 and pub. in Mortals and Others, v.1, 1975
* a brief comment (Translated with DeepL.com)
Privileges are physically impossible for many people to enjoy. If a 'lottery' system is used to decide who gets to enjoy privileges, there will be little discontent even if only a few people enjoy them as a result. However, this would not be beneficial to those in power, so those in power come up with all sorts of theories to ensure that they enjoy preferential privileges.
In contrast, complaining and trying to improve on a more democratic way of doing things does not work where there is inequality of power. It is a 'bird first, egg first' relationship, so to speak, but we should still say that the equalisation of power in various areas should come first.