Problem?

I have had the thought experiment that representative democracy is like outsourcing your opinion. Don't have a better way, mind you, but the entropy of letting someone else care for you seems to be the mess we are in now. Taking to the streets also doesn't really seem to present solutions either, though. I have been to a couple of "rallies" now, and they seem to be for people who like being seen instead of people who like to devise solutions. Rallies seem to be for emotions rather than solutions.

The protesters in America are literally chanting "This is what democracy looks like!"

The protesters in the middle east are literally demanding a democratic government.

Saying you've lost faith in the ballot box means "I'm not getting the democracy I want" not "I hate democracy, and want my government to stop listening to the people."

I know, people love oxymorons!
>> ^DerHasisttot:

What all the people REALLY want, though, is free market anarchy.

Protests are often a catalyst for democratic change. Think women's rights, civil rights, the end of the Vietnam war, the labor movement, the New Deal/end of great depression, etc...