Increasingly it becomes obvious that representational democracy populated by self-nominated candidates in no longer the needed replacement for direct deliberative democratic decision making. I Europr The Industrial Revolution, The French Revolution and The Russian Revolution in sequence disrupted autocratic governance. Along with it the autocratic governance of the colonised world was disrupted. Arguably, the two world conflicts of 20th C are deeply implicated in the relatively fruitless struggle to find a manifestation of democracy that delivers safe secure and sustainable homeplaces for individuals, communities and nations alike.
Unenlightened, self-imposed immaturity in those who lead isc everlikely to lead to dystopia as it has before. Outsourcing 'the knowing', morality and responsibility to an ideology or a deity, or a servant cum surrogate of either, is bound to end in dystopia. It always has up to now and it is ever likely to.
Dare to know! Dare to find a way forward collaboratively and cooperatively. Premeditated ignorance compounds dystopia.
What is Enlightenment? IMMANUEL KANT (1784)
1. Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.[2] Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude![3] “Have courage to use
your own understanding!”--that is the motto of enlightenment.
your own understanding!”--that is the motto of enlightenment.
2. Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance (natura-liter maiorennes), nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all.
I need not think, if only I can pay: others will readily undertake the irksome work for me. The guardians who have so benevolently taken over the supervision of men have carefully seen to it that the far greatest part of
them (including the entire fair sex) regard taking the step to maturity as very dangerous, not to mention difficult. Having first made their domestic livestock dumb, and having carefully made sure that these docile creatures will not take a single step without the go cart to which they are harnessed, these guardians then show them the danger that threatens them, should they attempt to walk alone. Now this danger is not actually so great, for after falling a few times they would in the end certainly learn to walk; but an
example of this kind makes men timid and usually frightens them out of all further attempts………………………https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/kant_whatisenlightenment.pdf
them (including the entire fair sex) regard taking the step to maturity as very dangerous, not to mention difficult. Having first made their domestic livestock dumb, and having carefully made sure that these docile creatures will not take a single step without the go cart to which they are harnessed, these guardians then show them the danger that threatens them, should they attempt to walk alone. Now this danger is not actually so great, for after falling a few times they would in the end certainly learn to walk; but an
example of this kind makes men timid and usually frightens them out of all further attempts………………………https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/kant_whatisenlightenment.pdf
.
DARE TO KNOW!
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