That is very disappointing to read, Zoltan. But, as an excuse to understand their disappointing positions better, they only had one format of democracy in mind.

Thomas Jefferson and later Victor D'Hondt devised the real form of democracy that is worth living for: Proportional Voting. It is quite distinct from the versions of democracy Socrates, Plato and Voltaire were aware of.

As you describe democracy in your example of the two folks selling their goods, that is the medieval version of democracy. It is indeed not that good.

Proportional Voting is the much better form of democracy. Just like a basic color copier has red, blue, yellow and black ink, a good democracy has several empowered parties and not just red and blue.

It is with the four colors that all images can get printed anywhich way we like. We don't need twenty different colors, but two colors is definitively not enough to guide us all well.

So, I am sorry to now know that Socrates, Plato and Voltaire were ignorant about democracy, but then again, they did also not have the best formats of democracy available in their times.