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Who seriously believes it would make a difference? As the Chairman is just a puppet and will if resigned be replaced by another. The USA is not a functioning de
by tanto 9y ago
Who seriously believes it would make a difference? As the Chairman is just a puppet and will if resigned be replaced by another. The USA is not a functioning democracy anymore and you should aim at replacing your complete government and the rules how it's elected.
- pcunite 9y agoThe USA is not a functioning democracy Thank goodness too! We are a Constitutional Republic. A pure democracy only works when the majority is moral.
- gech 9y agoThis constitutional republic isn't working either.
- bitsnbytes 9y agoBut the oligarchy is working beautifully. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10769041/The-US-is-an-oligarchy-study-concludes.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1... To bad people have become political cheerleaders that care more about their party and ego then the country or holding their own party accountable. Republican and Democrat political cheerleaders is a big reason we have lost our gov't along with people being to stupid to focus on the REAL issue versus distractions such as healthcare,welfare ,taxes,racism,sexism,sexuality,religion,heck even net neutrality. The only issue we should be talking about is 1. term limits in congress. 2. Closing revolving doors. 3. Reforming lobbying 4. Reforming fund raising. 5. Real transparency. you cant expect a bunch of people with conflict of interest to do the right thing for anyone but themselves.
- VeronicaJJ123 9y agoyou are welcome to leave.
- dang 9y agoPersonal attacks and incivility are not allowed here. If you do this again, we will ban you. That's not to say the GP was a good comment, but responding by making the thread more toxic is exactly the wrong thing to do.
- umanwizard 9y ago“Constitutional republic” and “democracy” are not contradictory. Most democracies are also republics. “Republic” just means “doesn’t have a king or queen”.
- Clubber 9y agoAlso a republic is a form of democracy. He never said pure democracy. I remember Fox and Rush types trying to confuse their listeners by portraying a republic as not a democracy without using the term "pure," or "direct." several years ago. We occasionally have instances of pure democracy through referendums.
- atomi 9y agoSome states do practice pure democracy, like California. We have citizen initiated constitutional amendments, recall power, legislation and even citizen redistricting.
- wutbrodo 9y agoOh for Christ's sake, pedantry is even more annoying _when it's not even correct_. Just Google the definition of "democracy" before the next time you think it's a good idea to interject this trite, useless comment. Here, I'll get you started: """ noun - a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. - a state governed by a democracy. - control of an organization or group by the majority of its members. """ The term you're thinking of is "direct democracy".
- backtoyoujim 9y agohow is it that you trust Google to define democracy for us ?
- wutbrodo 9y agoA word doesn't have an inherent meaning that extends beyond how it's used. Dictionaries don't dictate definitions, they describe them; at best, they provide a Schelling point. Google's definition in this case isn't out of sync with common usage or with any other dictionary that I'm aware of. Think for a second about point you're trying to make exactly, because it sounds to me like a vague soup of paranoid anti-corporate gibberish.
- libertyEQ 9y agoThe extremely liberal for their time founding fathers of the US were greatly concerned about the tyranny of the majority, which is why people get pedantic when talking about the US as a democracy. As has been pointed out elsewhere in this discussion, many states do function as democracies where we can vote directly on amendments to the state constitution (which is how all laws allowing for possession of cannabis have been passed).
- vlunkr 9y agoPlease enlighten us on how it's not a functioning democracy.
- Retric 9y agoMillions of law abiding Americans are denied representation because they live in DC or territory's, but not states etc. Look at single party congressional races. America is not even a representative democracy and has not been one for a very long time. PS: I can point to similar posts under the Obama presidency if you think this is about who is in office. America like China holds elections, but is not a democracy.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dijit 9y agoI mean, it's a functioning democracy in that there are elections. But there is a very serious class divide and it's pronounced in the upper echelons. It is widely known that governments and policy is bought and paid for. The idea is, if you're rich enough you can lobby for what you want. Functionally this is bribery with some extra steps. I would refer to the US as either a pendulum swing of administrations that attempt to cancel each other out at best and inverse totalitarianism[0] at worst. But I certainly wouldn't hold it up as the pinnacle of democracy. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
- Veratyr 9y agohttp://wws.princeton.edu/system/files/research/documents/Gilens_Testing%20Theories%20of%20American%20Politics.pdf http://wws.princeton.edu/system/files/research/documents/Gil... There is next to no correlation between the will of the people and the chance of their preferred policy being enacted. There's a very strong correlation between the will of the elites and their preferred policy being enacted. The US is only nominally a democracy, it is functionally an oligarchy.