We have all seen the phenominal growth of China. The democracies seem to be in a state of panic as they lose ground to China in particular. The one party state with strict laws and punishments is now the number 2 economy. The number one economy is virtually bankrupt with a $17 trillion debt and a Government that can't do much because of the oppposition party. Just voting for the biggest handouts has bankrupted nearly all the democracies. The notable exceptions being Sweden, Australia and Switzerland. Human nature of greed and self interest may have made democracy a thing of the past. Most 3rd world democracies are ruining themselves with corruption, crime etc. The so-called Arab spring toppled dictators but they have nothing workable to replace them - just a disorganised rabble of factions. Perhaps there are supporters of democracy still out there but it's looking bad for the freedoms of speech, rule of law, fair regulations etc. that cost so much to win.
The USA wasn't intended to be a democracy, even though that is in effect what we've morphed into. We were set up originally as a republic. The founding fathers knew a democracy would fail, just like we're doing now.
Our growing numbers are putting too much pressure on our foundation, the environment, exacerbating competition. This has an undermining effect on the superstrate, i.e. civilization.
Democracy isn't necessary if we had a benevolent dictator. A dictator who believed in the principals of freedom and individual rights as we have enjoyed them up until now. A dictator who would not grow a lust for power but who would make sure the principals of our nation were secure and honored consistently and constantly throughout time. Where would one find such a dictator for us to instill the power to govern our society without instilling fear that he would deviate from his mission? Certainly no man nor woman could be trusted with such power for men and women are easily corrupted and give rise to selfish thought. The solution then would reside in silicon. An artificial intelligence capable of adhering to the basic laws of mankind without the fear that it could become corrupt with self interest or manipulation. Many a science fiction story has reveled in just such a mind. While making the story line interesting, by making the created intelligence fallible (as in Terminator or iRobot), I don't think this necessarily would be the case. Imagine if we had a government controlled by one central entity that would work in a benevolent way for the benefit of all the people. A fair decision maker who would decide what services we needed and which ones were wasteful and unnecessary. Possibly even guided by a voting process but able to overrule society if a vote violated one of the basic tenets of man. Could such an intelligence be created in 50 years or so? If it could, would we ever trust giving it total control over our well being? Could society live under the rule of Gort?
I would say that statement is wrong. If you change the word, "ARTIFICIAL" to the words, "LACK OF" then I would agree!
super intelligent computers may well be a step too far in the foreseeable future. Just going on to the dictator theme it has always struck me as odd that the most notable dictators - Hitler, Stalin and Napoleon were all foreign to the countries that they tookover. Small in stature and 2 were Corporals.
Just as Obama is FOREIGN to the Country he took over with the handouts... A Country he intends to CHANGE into his Daddy's sick vision: pure Communism.