A phrase said and written by Tamils in protest of making Hindi the official language of India after independence from the British. This phrase was first started by Sage Chackravarti Rajagopalachari.
They protested because Tamil is a Dravidian language and Hindi is Indo-Aryan, so most Tamils understood English better than Hindi.
Hindi and English eventually both became the official languages until 1965, when English was removed.
They protested because Tamil is a Dravidian language and Hindi is Indo-Aryan, so most Tamils understood English better than Hindi.
Hindi and English eventually both became the official languages until 1965, when English was removed.
by Vishrudh Mayurasunu March 27, 2024
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A rhetorical move that misuses a celebrated quote—often Winston Churchill’s “democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried”—to argue that the current dominant system is not only the best available option, but is effectively beyond critique or meaningful improvement. The fallacy twists a pragmatic, relative defense (“least bad”) into an absolute, defensive dogma (“good enough forever”). It smugly dismisses calls for reform, innovation, or transformation by framing all alternatives as historically disproven, ignoring that the quote itself acknowledges the system’s flaws and leaves the door open for new ideas “to be tried.” It’s complacency disguised as wisdom.
Example: In a debate about implementing proportional representation to fix a dysfunctional two-party system, someone retorts, “Churchill already settled this: democracy is the worst system except for all the others. So quit complaining.” This invokes the Best System Ever Fallacy—using a famous caveat about imperfection to shut down specific improvements, as if Churchill’s line was a full stop on political evolution rather than a humble observation.
by Dumuabzu February 3, 2026
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