WEBVTT

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Behind me is the Parliament of my home country of Sweden.

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Democracy is an old idea.

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Almost 2,500 years ago,

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every free adult male in Athens, Greece

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was part of the legislative body, the Assembly,

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which controlled both the administration and the judiciary.

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But Athens wasn't just the birthplace of democracy.

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It was also the birthplace of populism and demagoguery.

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When the people governed,

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their governance could be flawed.

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They decided to condemn Socrates to death

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for corrupting the youth of Athens

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with his ideas of critical thinking.

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And there were other instances of horrible repression.

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Then sometimes, the assembly regretted their decision

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and turned on the speakers

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who had talked them into it

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and chased them out of the city.

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Athenian democracy might have been

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an improvement over rule by kings,

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but clearly, there was more work to be done.

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The word democracy means

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"the common man rules," and, in Athens,

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it literally meant the majority ruled absolutely.

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The majority could do anything to the minority,

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or what today we would call an

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illiberal democracy.

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As philosopher Karl Popper pointed out,

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the Enlightenment idea of liberal democracy

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is not that the majority is always right.

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Instead, a liberal democracy is based on the idea

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that people are free to lead their own lives,

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and democracy is installed as a

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reasonably effective institutional safeguard against tyranny.

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And this includes tyranny of the majority.

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This idea of democracy grew out of a

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thousand-year struggle to gnaw away

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at the power of Europe's absolute kings.

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Charters like England's Magna Carta in 1215

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limited the arbitrary power of kings.

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In Colonial America, where kings and aristocracy

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were an ocean away,

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such ideas could be tested from scratch.

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Many towns in New England still hold town meetings

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to determine local issues using direct democracy.

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The American states established a system of voting,

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but - with few exceptions -

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only free men who owned property

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were initially allowed to vote.

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Even in a country built on the idea of liberty,

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it took time for the promise to be fulfilled.

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But the example inspired the world

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and the great democratic transformations.

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All government action is based on force.

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If you don't follow the rules,

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in the end, we call the police.

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But even when a majority of people

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consider force necessary,

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it can be abused.

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So, government is a bit like

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toxic materials such as mercury.

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Both are useful to mankind

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in limited amounts and in very specific circumstances.

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Liberal democracy, with a

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division of powers and constitutional protections

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for individual rights against the majority,

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is one way of making sure of that.

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Democratic elections are needed -

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not as a way to sanctify decisions,

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but as one of many ways

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in which to control the rulers.

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The beauty of the democratic ideal remains

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the great fact that we, the people,

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are able to throw the bums out.

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Hey! Check out these other great videos from

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Free To Choose Network, and don't forget to subscribe

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to our channel to get updated on episodes

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of New and Improved with me, Johan Norberg.