Despite the troubling implication of such program, I doubt democracy isn't happening.
Indeed, people are already barred from work opportunities by the virtue of having any criminal background, including arrest records. This is acknowledged as a growing problem in our society.
More or less, yes. However, the danger is really only to people outside the safe herd majority who might draw the wrong sort of attention. So I don't see it being a huge danger.
However, I don't think it'll ever devolve to the point where mass arrests or anything truly draconian takes place. There isn't any need in Democracy. You need to only control 51% of the engaged voters [e.g. the people who actually vote] and at least in the US the two party system controls that quite effectively.
I'm worried about this because it will lead to people getting stepped on and crushed between the massive gears of the "State Security" apparatus.
Once the country becomes a police state, democracy isn't really possible anymore because the police gains an inordinate amount of power relative to the people.
The defining aspect of democracy isn't really elections, it's how much power the average person has and how equitable that distribution is.
Is democracy basically dead? There are all sorts of disturbing precedents being set over the last 10 years without any push back. Can anyone think of a single democracy, free speech, surveillance or rule of law issue that will get people on the street or even change their voting preference?
This is just the sort of hard case to set the right precedents about rule of law, you just can't lock someone up without trial. It goes against every know tenet of law.
If there is a rule of law that allows this, then it is basically not rule of law as we understand the word.
The democratic process, other than instances where it can be independently verifiable, like a show of hands in a room, or on a blockchain, is obsolete. It is a pretense for criminals to occupy and corrupt.
Amazing to see this discussion on HN! Here's another article that I'm pretty fond that explores how modern democracy has failed us and what we might be better off with in its place:
Well... These are the (large) cracks in rule of law that no one has ever managed to close entirely.
It's dangerous to criminalise political tier decisions and actions, just like it's dangerous to prosecute former politicians. It harms the ability to preserve peaceful transitions. Criminals or not.
First, it opens a door to political purging. Also incentives to use power in order to remain free is just too big.
On the other hand, the issue is of grave concern vis-a-vis being on the precipice between democracy & tyranny... Maybe it's not the solution said people think it is.
I'm sure you know that democracies, in reality, actually have rule of law and universal rights.
> It used to be, the rights of the 2% of gang members were respected, while the 98% of honest citizens had no rights and lived in fear. Now, the 98% have full rights. That's +96% people with full rights
The textbook language of the dictator and populist oppressor. Maybe it will be different this time, but that's a huge risk to take.
Indeed, people are already barred from work opportunities by the virtue of having any criminal background, including arrest records. This is acknowledged as a growing problem in our society.
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