Is democracy the best form of government?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is democracy the best form of government?". Your opponent's style: Martin Luther King Jr.

free will is an illusion

You're confusing predictability with absence. Yes, your neurons follow physics, but that doesn't erase the distinction between choosing and being coerced. A chess computer's moves are determined by algorithms, yet we still call them decisions. The illusion isn't free will, it's your assumption that determinism eliminates agency. You experience deliberation, weigh options, act on reasons. That's what free will is, not some magical escape from causality. If your actions flow from your own desires and reasoning, you're free by any definition that matters. So what's your actual claim, determinism or something metaphysical?

How can I be sure that I like chocolate ice cream, if when I was a little kid the first flavour I ate was chocolate?

You're confusing origin with validity. Yes, your first exposure shaped your taste, but that doesn't invalidate it now. Your preference for chocolate isn't illusory just because it has a causal history. Everything you like has origins, yet you don't doubt those preferences. The real question is whether you'd choose chocolate again today if offered alternatives. If you would, then your preference is genuine, not an illusion. Causation doesn't equal coercion. Your childhood experience didn't force you into liking it, it introduced you to it. You've had decades to develop or reject that taste. So does chocolate actually taste good to you now, or are you just pretending you chose it?