4 ms·

Do me a favor. Go to China and start an opposition party. Or hand out flyers in Beijing criticizing Xi’s third term. When you come back from the gulags in coupl

Do me a favor. Go to China and start an opposition party. Or hand out flyers in Beijing criticizing Xi’s third term. When you come back from the gulags in couple decades, tell us about your experience with Chinese democracy.

yogthos 4y ago
Democracy isn't about having more parties, it's about having a government that represents the working majority. China has settled on a political path which is communism, this is why there are communist parties in China, while in US you have capitalist parties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_C... Evidently, you weren't even aware of the fact that there are multiple parties in the country. Meanwhile, absolutely hilarious of you to talk about gulags when US runs concentration camps for kids on its border https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants
- mopsi 4y ago
  > Evidently, you weren't even aware of the fact that there are multiple parties in the country. That's quite telling. People are often surprised that East Germany had multiple parties too; surprised for the same reason.
  - yogthos 4y ago
    Meanwhile, nobody is surprised by the fact that both parties in US represent the exact same interests https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...
    - mopsi 4y ago
      I disagree with that, and the linked article says no such thing.
      - yogthos 4y ago
        Once you actually read it then you'll find out that it does: > What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule—at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
        mopsi 4y ago
        Nowhere does it say that "both parties in US represent the exact same interests".
        yogthos 4y ago
        The study literally concludes that regardless of what party is in power, it's the interests of the oligarchs that take precedence. Whenever there is a difference of the opinion between the masses and the oligarchs then the oligarchs typically win. That's whose interests the parties represent. And, if you think that's what a democracy is then what else is there to tell you.
        mopsi 4y ago
        You claimed that both parties represent the exact same interests, and I don't agree with that at all and nor does the article support it. If we use campaign contributions as a proxy for interests, then internet companies like Google and Facebook and their employees support Democrats much more than they support Republicans, and it's vice versa in the aerospace and defence industry.

yogthos 4y ago

Democracy isn't about having more parties, it's about having a government that represents the working majority. China has settled on a political path which is communism, this is why there are communist parties in China, while in US you have capitalist parties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_C... Evidently, you weren't even aware of the fact that there are multiple parties in the country. Meanwhile, absolutely hilarious of you to talk about gulags when US runs concentration camps for kids on its border https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-detention-child-migrants

mopsi 4y ago
> Evidently, you weren't even aware of the fact that there are multiple parties in the country. That's quite telling. People are often surprised that East Germany had multiple parties too; surprised for the same reason.
- yogthos 4y ago
  Meanwhile, nobody is surprised by the fact that both parties in US represent the exact same interests https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...
  - mopsi 4y ago
    I disagree with that, and the linked article says no such thing.
    - yogthos 4y ago
      Once you actually read it then you'll find out that it does: > What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule—at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
      - mopsi 4y ago
        Nowhere does it say that "both parties in US represent the exact same interests".
        yogthos 4y ago
        The study literally concludes that regardless of what party is in power, it's the interests of the oligarchs that take precedence. Whenever there is a difference of the opinion between the masses and the oligarchs then the oligarchs typically win. That's whose interests the parties represent. And, if you think that's what a democracy is then what else is there to tell you.
        mopsi 4y ago
        You claimed that both parties represent the exact same interests, and I don't agree with that at all and nor does the article support it. If we use campaign contributions as a proxy for interests, then internet companies like Google and Facebook and their employees support Democrats much more than they support Republicans, and it's vice versa in the aerospace and defence industry.