For every class of decision a modern government makes, from diplomacy to economics to issuing fishing licenses, there exists a caste of scholars in the social sciences, carefully selected for their race, gender, intelligence and/or political reliability, who use the methods of science - which, as you know, split the atom and put a man on the moon, and is absolutely infallible - to divine the correct public policy. None of these professors is in any way, shape or form responsible for the success or failure of these policies - generally the later. I swear I am not making this up.

Mencius Moldbug

This is a very succinct explanation of where ideas in politics are derived. The elites come up with an idea, based, of course, on Science! And then we go through an elaborate process by which we pretend to choose the people who will make decisions for us on these policies. Because We the People are merely given the options from which to choose. Both for representatives and for policy. And we are told which we should choose. This predictably leads to tragedy.

Which brings us to another excerpt from Moldbug's essay:

Here are some random facts about the present California which, I feel, are violations of order. The major cities are full of racist paramilitary gangs. Large sections of them are unsafe at night. Other sections are unsafe by day. Millions of people are in California illegally. California has no secure list of people who are authorized to reside there, nor does it know the addresses and occupations of its residents, nor does it have their biometric identities. If an unlocked bicycle is left on the street, it will be stolen. Many Californians are idle and not independently wealthy. Many schools approach the zoological. Graffiti is everywhere, as is garbage. Etc, etc. (You'll note that by the global standards of 2009, California is actually quite orderly).

To the residents of the New California, after a few years of Dictatorship, any of these phenomena would be as shocking as the sight of a live rhinoceros walking down the street. More to the point, they would be about as shocking as the exact same phenomena would be to the residents of California in 1909.

I'm sure the word 'dictatorship' set off alarm bells in everyone's head. Why is that? Most people are aware of the failings and excesses of dictators. Nevermind that most of the 20th century examples were popularly elected and required popular approval to maintain power. Yet the failings of democracy are largely overlooked. Go read Moldbug's essay to hear some of those failings.