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> Our country will never become a dictatorship, and our country is already a dictatorship. To be more precise it is an oligarchy or what was that word... plutoc

> Our country will never become a dictatorship, and our country is already a dictatorship. To be more precise it is an oligarchy or what was that word... plutocracy? Anyone has a link to that paper? http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 1) Oligarchies are not dictatorships. 2) The US was founded as an oligarchy and has been a relatively stable one. This being the case, the OP's point still stands.

rdtsc 11y ago
> 1) Oligarchies are not dictatorships. Good enough for a general heuristic. On paper we are Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy either. But it depends on the level of conversation. Most people on the street would not know Constitutional Republic vs a Democracy even if it hit them on the nose. > 2) The US was founded as an oligarchy and has been a relatively stable one. This being the case, the OP's point still stands. Note: I didn't say a dictatorship would be unstable or everyone would have a bad time. There are and have been lot of dictatorships people support(ed) and didn't rebel against in order to turn them into democracies. The bottom line is people don't have the representative power they think they have. And other, most concentrated power centers make decisions for them. Whether it is one person or 20 large companies doesn't matter much. I can't quite be one person so on paper it will never be dictatorship, just like on paper very few countries identify as "The United Dictatorship of <blah>". Even North Korea, is a "Democratic Republic" on paper. That doesn't mean it is one in reality.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  > The bottom line is people don't have the representative power they think they have. And other, most concentrated power centers make decisions for them. The sheer volume of people who think the two parties are the same and/or their voting is pointless would disagree with you. > Whether it is one person or 20 large companies doesn't matter much. I can't quite be one person so on paper it will never be dictatorship A large number of opposing poles on a spectrum are involved, it isn't just "20 companies". This competition allows it to function in a reasonable stable manner that appears similar to a Republic as everyone with the power to change the status quo is represented roughly equal to their ability to do so. The simple truth is revolution requires it to be backed by people with resources.

rdtsc 11y ago

> 1) Oligarchies are not dictatorships. Good enough for a general heuristic. On paper we are Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy either. But it depends on the level of conversation. Most people on the street would not know Constitutional Republic vs a Democracy even if it hit them on the nose. > 2) The US was founded as an oligarchy and has been a relatively stable one. This being the case, the OP's point still stands. Note: I didn't say a dictatorship would be unstable or everyone would have a bad time. There are and have been lot of dictatorships people support(ed) and didn't rebel against in order to turn them into democracies. The bottom line is people don't have the representative power they think they have. And other, most concentrated power centers make decisions for them. Whether it is one person or 20 large companies doesn't matter much. I can't quite be one person so on paper it will never be dictatorship, just like on paper very few countries identify as "The United Dictatorship of <blah>". Even North Korea, is a "Democratic Republic" on paper. That doesn't mean it is one in reality.

fweespeech 11y ago
> The bottom line is people don't have the representative power they think they have. And other, most concentrated power centers make decisions for them. The sheer volume of people who think the two parties are the same and/or their voting is pointless would disagree with you. > Whether it is one person or 20 large companies doesn't matter much. I can't quite be one person so on paper it will never be dictatorship A large number of opposing poles on a spectrum are involved, it isn't just "20 companies". This competition allows it to function in a reasonable stable manner that appears similar to a Republic as everyone with the power to change the status quo is represented roughly equal to their ability to do so. The simple truth is revolution requires it to be backed by people with resources.