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Support for democratic institutions and the rule of law has gone down in USA thanks to the MAGA movement. Is that cultural?
by guelo 2y ago
Support for democratic institutions and the rule of law has gone down in USA thanks to the MAGA movement. Is that cultural?
- mopenstein 2y ago[flagged]
- esafak 2y agoNo, it's not, it's a weakness of democracy, otherwise you can 'democratically' enable any act, including aborting democracy. There have to be guardrails.
- mopenstein 2y ago[flagged]
- esafak 2y agoYes, like sustaining democracy. I'm not a moral relativist, and don't condone allowing democracy to be wielded against itself. Nor would I tell the truth to an axe-wielding murderer asking me for directions, pace Kant. There is no grand philosophical paradox here; you just have to apply some commonsense. Would you be okay living in a democracy whose majority voted to harm you?
- mopenstein 2y ago[flagged]
- esafak 2y agoTaxation is not theft, it is an obligation of living in a civilized society. Without a government funded by taxes, your country won't even be long for this world. Another country that has its act together will take over yours and you'll be having this philosophical debate from the comfort of your new country.
- mopenstein 2y agoI'm not trying to debate the merits of various government. We're just discussing definitions. It you take my property via threat of violence (coercion), that is thievery. School children understand this. So I'm sure you do as well. Taxes aren't voluntary and if you do not pay them, you will be jailed. If you resist being jailed, you will be violently detained. If you respond with violence in kind, you will be killed. I don't care if you think that the ends justify the means. We're just discussing definitions.
- guelo 2y agoproperty doesn't even exist without government
- mopenstein 2y agoThis can't be a real comment? Maybe bad AI?
- skissane 2y ago> It you take my property via threat of violence (coercion), that is thievery. School children understand this. So I'm sure you do as well. Taxes aren't voluntary and if you do not pay them, you will be jailed. If your landlord demands you pay your rent, is that thievery? Because that’s essentially what tax is I own a house. I bought it off someone else who bought it off someone else who… go back 40-50 years ago, a property developer bought a farm and subdivided it… and the farmer bought it from another farmer who bought it from another farmer… and it all goes back to this massive farm which was subdivided into smaller farms… and that massive farm was originally a government land grant… and before that the government owned it… and the government got it by stealing the land from the indigenous people The government land grant was made subject to the condition that the recipient paid taxes. And since you can’t give better title than you have, the same condition passes on to all subsequent purchasers. If the government has no right to my taxes, then I have no right to my house If taxation is theft, then property is too. But if property is theft, then calling taxation “theft” is like a small time crook complaining a bigger crook robbed them
- rayiner 2y ago[flagged]
- esafak 2y agoI don't think so; democracy can mean many things. I don't live in, or want to live in a direct democracy, if that's what you're thinking of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_democracy
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- guelo 2y agoDemocracy only works if there is a shared belief in things like upholding the rule of law, respecting the separation of powers, not using government power for political purposes, etc. Without those shared beliefs democracy can fall apart quickly. After all, Hitler was elected democratically.
- mopenstein 2y ago[flagged]
- rayiner 2y ago[flagged]
- jimkleiber 2y agoWhere did they call the constitution racist?