"Vastly Less Murderous"

 

From a great article on Aeon, arguing why a liberal democracy is the best form of government:

"The cognitive scientist Steven Pinker contrasts liberal democracies with regimes based on demonising, concluding that:

‘democracies are vastly less murderous than alternative forms of government’.

Like other modern writers, Pinker uses ‘democracy’ as shorthand for ‘liberal democracy’, meaning: popular sovereignty, rule of law, voting rights, human rights, free speech, equal opportunity, separation of church and state, distributive justice, and a market-based economy.

Kenton: But it appears it is harder to maintain a democracy than to maintain a dictatorship. Being 'vastly less murderous' is good enough for me. Worth fighting for. And if we could ever actually obtain a semblance of 'justice for all,' well, that would be a bonus.