"No, that turmoil has nothing to do with you. The people who should really bear the responsibility are all the people of the Kingdom of Muxi."
Todd shook his head helplessly: "We both made the same mistake regarding the path to democracy."
"mistake?"
"We overestimated human nature."
Emerson frowned, indicating his confusion.
Todd explained: "The premise of distributing power equally to every citizen and allowing them to exercise the power of election and decision-making is that all citizens must be completely rational people."
"A rational person?"
"By rational people, I mean citizens who are not only selfish, but must also be completely rational. When faced with choices, they will weigh the consequences of their actions and act in a way that maximizes their benefits and minimizes their harms."
Emerson blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"However, rational man is a most ideal assumption. In reality, no individual human being can make absolutely rational choices."
Todd counted on his fingers and explained to Emerson, “First, a rational person must possess very comprehensive knowledge of the decision-making object. For example, in this election for the West City cabinet, the citizens who participated in the vote should have a certain level of knowledge and understanding of fields such as economy, military, people’s livelihood, and diplomacy. But in reality, many people just follow the crowd and don’t understand these details at all. So, this gave Rutledge an opportunity to incite a large number of people by using methods such as changing concepts and distorting the original meaning.”
"Secondly, rational people must have clear logic and distinct preferences in their logical thinking. This is easy to understand; citizens participating in elections should possess independent thinking and strong calculation abilities. They should be able to systematically analyze the situation of each candidate to determine the best candidate. However, in reality, the vast majority of Muxi citizens simply follow the crowd during elections, often changing their minds based on a few words from others or even a small gift, and ultimately casting the wrong vote."
Upon hearing this, Emerson nodded with a wry smile and said, "Your Majesty, if all that you've said can be achieved, then entrusting the kingdom to these rational people is naturally justifiable. But how can we transform the citizens into rational people? Through education? Through propaganda?"
Todd shook his head slightly and said, "No matter how much society progresses or how much the quality of citizens improves, rational people can never become the norm."
"Because humans are inherently creatures with strong emotions and complex preferences, they are very easily influenced by external factors when making decisions; and when analyzing situations, they may make misjudgments and decision-making errors due to their personal experience and professional expertise... Therefore, allowing rational people to achieve democracy is inherently a difficult path to follow."
Emerson looked very disappointed: "According to your view, neither monarchical autocracy nor citizen co-governance is a viable path, so how should the future of Twilight City be realized?"
Todd raised his hand, pointed to the breathtaking scenery before him, and smiled at Emerson, saying, "The answer lies in heaven."
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