As many of us watch the missteps of our government with bated breath – they seem to be faltering in so many areas – the social conversation usually gets around to the question of democracy, and along comes Arnold Kling with an excellent article for the Library of Economics and Liberty.
Citing the recent books by Michael Anissimov and Michael Munger, he gives us a lot to think about.
Munger wishes citizens were less enthralled "with the wisdom and benevolence of public officials" and Anissmov proffers that a monarchy would be best.
Of course I am more comfortable with Munger's take.
Here's a quote from the article:
"What holds a political system together is what political theorists call "legitimacy," also known as the "Noble Lie." Hundreds of years ago, the noble lie was that the king was divine. Munger writes,
"The modern version of the "Noble Lie" is told to all of us, every day: The reason we have powerful governments is that the people in government are working not for themselves but for the people."
