what does this qoute mean?

[cheeruplovebug]

the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter- winston churchill

[Mick-Talbot]

I assume he means the average voter is to put it bluntly, thick as two short planks and should not be allowed to vote.

[cheeruplovebug]

so kind of like they dont really now anything, so their votes really mean nothing?

[cheeruplovebug]

HELP PLEASE!!!!

[Buenchico]

No, it's not questioning the value of their votes. It's questioning whether letting 'Mr Average' have a say in running the country is actually a good idea in the first place.

I don't believe in representative democracy because it allows Sun readers to vote. Winston Churchill was saying something very similar ;-)

Chris

[cheeruplovebug]

aha okay thanks chris ^.^

[jno]

Churchill also said democracy was the worst possible way to run a country, except for all the other ways that had been tried. So he was in favour, but with some reservations.

[cheeruplovebug]

thanks! so it would be safe to say that the average voter is not always as informed as they should be in order to make econmic decisions?

[Buenchico]

That's exactly what most politicians would SAY, Cheeruplovebug, while they were actually THINKING "This lot are all as thick as sh!t, but they shouldn't have too much trouble putting an 'X' on the ballot paper because that's probably how they sign their names anyway" ;-)

[cheeruplovebug]

AHAHA! so true! damn that made my day man ^.^ aha

[jno]

c'mon, lovebug, spit it out...

[jake-the-peg]

Mind you given what a mess Churchill made of the economy in returning the country to the Gold Standard and the mess he made by promoting the Gallipoli campaign and his opposition to women voting you have to wonder if the best argument against representative democracy might be a five minute conversation with Winston Churchill

[jno]

jake's trifle unfair in going back to the 1920s for his examples. Churchil,, unlike many politicians, had a second chance and did well.

He then had a third chance in the 1950s and although he got away with it, democracy might have been better served if the electorate had known of his serious health problems.

[jake-the-peg]

You're also missing out the thrashing he took in the 1945 election on a "back to business as normal" platform when the country wanted "a land fit for heroes"

It's difficult to find much much to congratulate Churchill for outside of the war - his reputation is pretty much entirely based on those 5 years

[VHG]

And he was already past retirement age when the became PM during the war.