In many antiAmerican threads, the Americans argue that they cannot be held responsible for actions of their politicians; Democracy is peoples rule, so what has happened to democracy ? If people are not in control then isnt that Dictatorship ? Its true that U can get another president but the end result seems same govenment after government. So has Democracy failed. Is it just that bad guys have learnt to get around it to get what they want ? Isnt it time to find the next alternative to democracy ?
the very fact that america has an electoral college disqualifies it from a "democracy" label. we have a sick country, and the neocons keep giving us "hot beef injections" year after year. it isnt helping.
There is no way a dictatorship would ever work in this country. We are all to rebelious. The only way they work in other countries, is that the people feel powerless. Here, if the president declared that we were now a dictatorship, every man, woman, and child would stand in his way.
indeed...my girlfriend is from Ukraine. she always asks me about the politics in america (we live in europe and she has never been to the states). i always end up talking about the rebellious nature of americans, in contrast to most of the rest of the world. it always ends with: "we have a right". we are used to things a certain way, and we dont like our routine disrupted. THAT is the foundation of modern american thought.
Dammit, I had a post written but the power button on that k/b was next to the enter button. WHO DESIGNED IT LIKE THAT? I'll try and retype it. We may elect our governments, but unless voting is mandatory this is meaningless. Also, once they are elected we have no control over what they do. AN example: In Carmarthen, the town council want to close Catherine Street, a small but vital traffic artery. They held a public meeting in St. Peters Civic Hall, and about 800 people turned up. They all voted unanimously against closing the street. The council "declined to comment". They are of course continuing with the plans for closing the street, and when it is close, the traffic in Carmarthen will be awful. When people complain, the council will say "We consulted the public" neglecting to mention of course that the public voted no. This same council is also building a new £2 million footbridge over the River Towy from the railway station to...the edge of a busy road. Fucking pointless. The hospital needs money for the heart ward. They also regularly refurbish their offices, at the expense of the taxpayer. Direct Democracy is now possible with the advent of the PC. I see no reason why the old way should continue any longer.
america.. does not have a democracy... it has a republic... america is ruled by the wealthy.. it is designed that way... but the illusion of democracy lets the people think they are democratically free... when in reality... they are just manipulated by levels of detail which the average person simply cannot piece together.. and so is content to let others do it for them. -MT
You said it perfectly right there. Too many prefer to get the cliff notes version of everything all because we're oh-so-busy that now information becomes power. We only know what others allow us to know. - N
Sounds good but its more dangerous, for example , many people doubt that Bush was fake voted, if Bush can conspire 9/11, Bogus voting must be piece of cake. It becomes even more easy if people vote from internet. I think whats required is verifiable voting.
VOTING FROM the internet... is not acceptable... it would be to easy to commit fraud..... it must require personnal presense..... which can be done. thus i support a direct democracy... yet it must be founded on fundamentals.. which cannot be voted down by a majority.. such as minority rights. -MT
Democracy is turning into jungle aristocracy in the US, especially with the rise of the elitist. A better situation is if the two parties were democratic and socialist.
I wasn't suggesting internet voting for elections, only intenet voting for decisions taken by local governments, IE whether or not to build said pointless bridge, widen the pavements pointlessly or recarpet the council offices pointlessly.
How about going and signing in a register along with your ID ? U dont seem to get my point. Look whatever the majority was. If in the future U think it was wrong then U as a citizen should have a right to take another poll regarding the problems faced by the innitial decesions. We can have a Poll invitation news papers or website.
We will have another poll on the closing of that street, but the council will ignore it. I May not have fully understood your post, anomalous.
The alternative, the current system with Bush in power, is not dangerous? With direct voting there shouldn't be a head of state with any power. That has become redundant. People vote for EVERYTHING! There is nothing to corrupt. Obviously it will never happen because nobody wants to give up power and control.
The council cant ignore it if these thing are part of the constitution, but this is new and never tested before and has to be refined after identifing the practical problems in it..
They can and will ignore it. there is no such constitution in Wales, and if there is I suspect they are avoiding telling us about it.
The Federal Reserve controls money, money controls politicians, politicians control the people, and thus we have our dictatorship.