democratic_socialism stork daddy socialism remains a powerful way to provide to all in a society the benefits of enlightened social science and philosophy. the check on despotic socialism is democracy. a rights-based society that recognizes the various interests of its members has potential seems ideal. the initial premise is that some rights are inalienable, the secondary premise is that in deciding interests, democratic votes is the method that best reduces the threat of philosopher kings ruling the masses with a "benevolent" tyranny. the third premise, however, is that a government, as part of the social contract, must provide services so that the compromising of individual freedom is worthwhile. in deciding how best to provide for the interests of society, one should respect their voice as to both the importance of the goal and the methodology in achieving it. which rights are inalienable and which are subject to democratic regulation by the government is a difficult question, but one which a society may answer by the democratic process itself. if you live in a society that thinks the pie should be split evenly, rather than based on who baked it etc., you should respect the voice of your comrades - so long as the society as a whole still is worth including yourself in. the benefits must be such that the detriments are less. democracy is the proper way to achieve this. but the moment you start expanding the inalienable rights to such a degree that you eliminate much of the power of democratic voting to regulate society, you do a great disservice to the very reason humans engage in society in the first place. 050308 ... andru235 YOU HEARD HIM, PEOPLE! ************VOTE************ 050308 what's it to you? who go blather from