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I think people have been saying for a long time that Americans are especially responsible because the US is a democracy and not a dictatorship. On the other ha

by vba616 5y ago

I think people have been saying for a long time that Americans are especially responsible because the US is a democracy and not a dictatorship. On the other hand, it is often claimed, and seems plausible to many, that the "military industrial complex" is kind of independent from elected representatives' control so citizens are helpless. Both these themes seem to be pushed by fringe political groups and anti-US propaganda. They are synergistic. Demoralizing anyone is best done by convincing them that all possible choices are evil and nothing can be improved. Regardless, the unseen power of this sort of discussion is how it maintains a false bubble where the US "reign of terror" is compared to this particular brutal war only. I haven't been paying attention myself to how Russia has been suppressing revolts, destroying cities, expelling ethnic groups, and backing separatists through the years, but since 1991, there have been something like ten conflicts involving the Russian Federation. Ten! Well, I had to look it up, but I was certain it was more than zero (plus Ukraine/Crimea). Chechnya alone accounts for two wars. Everything that anyone ever tries to convince you of these days is an unstated premise. Since everyone's completely immune to assertions by people they don't like.

positus 5y ago
Small clarification: the US is not a democracy. It is a democratic *republic*.
- vba616 5y ago
  It's the democratic aspect that is used to argue that US citizens are responsible for the actions of their government. Besides, a democratic republic is a democracy, just like a dwarf planet is a planet.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  > Small clarification: the US is not a democracy. It is a democratic I would say that 1) definitions are descriptive of how people use them, as much as they are prescriptive. Perhaps more so. 2) the term "a democracy" is usually used in the binary: Do this countries people choose their leaders or not? Are there voters who "are responsible for the actions of their government" or not? i.e. Democracy vs Autocracy. The parent commenter makes it very clear that this distinction is what they were getting at: > Americans are especially responsible because the US is a democracy and not a dictatorship. To be sure, there are forms of democracy such as "direct democracy" or "democratic republic" and degrees of it, such as a "flawed democracy" or a "new democracy". But the idea that the USA does not fit into this general binary category - as the word "democracy" is used in common speech that you well understand - is not warranted.

by vba616 5y ago

positus 5y ago

Small clarification: the US is not a democracy. It is a democratic *republic*.

vba616 5y ago
It's the democratic aspect that is used to argue that US citizens are responsible for the actions of their government. Besides, a democratic republic is a democracy, just like a dwarf planet is a planet.
SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
> Small clarification: the US is not a democracy. It is a democratic I would say that 1) definitions are descriptive of how people use them, as much as they are prescriptive. Perhaps more so. 2) the term "a democracy" is usually used in the binary: Do this countries people choose their leaders or not? Are there voters who "are responsible for the actions of their government" or not? i.e. Democracy vs Autocracy. The parent commenter makes it very clear that this distinction is what they were getting at: > Americans are especially responsible because the US is a democracy and not a dictatorship. To be sure, there are forms of democracy such as "direct democracy" or "democratic republic" and degrees of it, such as a "flawed democracy" or a "new democracy". But the idea that the USA does not fit into this general binary category - as the word "democracy" is used in common speech that you well understand - is not warranted.