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Comment by tboyd47 | Hacker News Reader

That's the problem with democracy. The people are not truly in charge but yet we get blamed.

> Athenion struts on stage before the crowd, then displays the sloganeering skills of a modern politician, saying: “Now you command yourselves, and I am your commander in chief. If you join your strength to me, my power shall reach the combined power of all of you.” Then March 86 BC, shouts and trumpet blasts rend the night air as Roman soldiers, swords drawn, run through the city. Blood flows in the narrow streets, as the Romans butcher the Athenians—women and children included. The number of dead is beyond counting. In despair, many Athenians kill themselves.

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I believe athenion was not actually in control of athens in 86 BC, but rather the tyrant aristion who had seized control. if athenion had still been in power, he might have followed the other city-states in surrendering to sulla. hard to say of course, but he did not have the same conflicting motives as athenion. I'm not really sure what this example is supposed to show.

My point was not about who was really responsible for the rebellion. My point was that the everyday people were blamed for what transpired, then they were massacred, and this was the end of democracy in Athens for a long time.

Idk man, a lot of people didn't vote for Bernie in that primary. They had the option and didn't go for it.

Remember when he was winning and then there was a "software failure"

This sounds like a dangerous Qanon conspiracy theory to me. All the sources have told me that electronic voting machines are 100% secure. So that must be true and you must be wrong.

The obvious triangulation against him by the party probably didn't help. I don't care about Sanders any more than I care about any candidate suggesting we step back from the brink, but it was so obvious even people who spend all day on Twitter calling everyone "Bernie Bros" (even people who aren't bros) got a little suspicious.

Same as happened to Ron Paul in some way. Candidate seek to change the course of a party and is stop by existing party interest.

The people are truly in charge. If everyone opposed something so heavily, they'd be able to vote out enormous swathes of the electorate till they get said desire.

You either get agency, or the ability to abdicate responsibility, not both.

It's also possible you get neither.

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