I have actually presumed that if people want to throw away their dignity then we have a responsibility to disallow that.
and b) that the democratic system has come closest to recognizing the rights and dignity of the governed, a point that I could not disagree with more,
Feel free to elaborate. That's what discussions are. Absent a statement of why you disagree I have nothing to defend.
Shalom.
In your eyes, they have thrown away their dignity, in their eyes they may have defined the good society differently from you. Your particular brand of authoritarianism is not less offensive because it is "for the sake of the people's dignity". Indeed, that was the hallmark of the leaders of the French Revolution.
...that the democratic system has come closest to recognizing the rights and dignity of the governed, a point that I could not disagree with more.
This country has a bad habit of eliminating rights of one group of people whenever it secures the rights of another. The saddest part of it all is that so-called conservative economists talk about people individually and collectively as commodities; that has precious little to do with human dignity.
Democracy is one political ideal among many, when you start seeing a moral imperative to force your political ideals on another person (or people or nation) you have become what the Soviet Union used to be. Is there a democratic version of the Internationale? I'm sure the words can't be much different.