Bonus Quote:
“One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - The Republic (Approx. 380 B.C.)
In Plato’s view, the final stage of a democracy involves unchecked populism. The ignorant majority will vote based on fear and hatred of others, and also loathing of the leading class. The intelligent minority of a stagnant democracy, he explains, will exercise no power to stop them.
The fears of the people in this scenario are exploited by a demagogue, who achieves power by aligning himself against whoever it is the people hate. He then cements his rule by using his power to remove or silence those in society who have any reason to challenge him, be they political opponents, popular figures, or even simple citizens. At such time as he needs to reassert himself, rather than establishing justice, he engages the society in war, so that the people cleave to him for safety. In this way the democracy irreversibly becomes a tyranny. This endures until the entire existing society is forcibly disestablished.
Now, look, I’m not sayin’ democracy itself is on the line here, today (although in a way, every time you vote or don’t, you’re helping keep it alive or kill it). What I am saying is that if you choose not to vote because you consider yourself above it all, remember that people full of selfishness and suspicion and animosity will bother. That means that by your own choice, they are having more of a say than you. They’re going to exert power in society, while you don’t - and when that happens, it certainly means our democracy is headed in the wrong direction.