The problem with democracy is the prisoner’s dilemma: uncoordinated individuals acting in short-term self-interest causes long-term collective despair.

This flaw cannot be solved by replacing democracy with something else.

The sole solution is morality (not merely legality) – i.e. adherence to the spirit rather than letter of law – and a slightly more generous than fair approach.¹

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1. Religion terms this fear of the Lord. The nearest secular approximate equivalent is enlightened self-interest. ↩