Winston Churchill - "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

[Lemon law]

accidental double post unintended.

 

[1prophet]

Democracy works well when critical thinking and reasoning is instilled into a child from an early age, but then again people like that become burrs in the saddles of those with agendas by asking uncomfortable questions that go against the norm.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: techs
The best argument against Winston Churchill is a five minute conversation with him.

The man believed that India was better off owned by England. Not to mention all the other colonies which he was admanant "belonged" to England.

you really don't think the English colonies would be better off today if they had stayed? Imperialism brings capital, technology and civilization to an otherwise savage primitive and culture/society.

Many of their colonies and others would have been better off without cruel and barbaric British colonialism. The British didn't really bring that much to their slave colonies. You should read up on colonialism. You'll be surprised about the decline of societies under British barbarism. More people were probably slaughtered under British rule than any other time in human history.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: techs
The best argument against Winston Churchill is a five minute conversation with him.

The man believed that India was better off owned by England. Not to mention all the other colonies which he was admanant "belonged" to England.

you really don't think the English colonies would be better off today if they had stayed? Imperialism brings capital, technology and civilization to an otherwise savage primitive and culture/society.

Savage and primitive? India? South Africa? Egypt? They might not make the next G8 meeting, but they're far from being savage or primitive.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Boy, after reading posts in this forum as well as comments on articles on places such as CNN, it really is so damned true. It amazes me the things that people get all bent out of shape about.

Flag pin lapels, crying, old age, middle names, etc. I swear, we Americans get stupider every election with the smallest dumbest crap that shouldn't matter but somehow does. It really is quite sad how little the general public knows about common issues.

The fact that George W Bush was re-elected in 2004 proves your point. But, considering to the alternatives I still rather live with representative government and I think that all eligible people should be legally required to vote.

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
As my father says, the problem with politics is that there isn't always a logical solution to every problem. Thus, there is no way to arrive at "the best" conclusion and we just have to choose one. Without logic to differentiate, it's hit-and-miss (mostly miss nowadays ). Most people can't even get that far, however, and get stuck on the logical parts.

A difficulty compounded, I would say, by the polarizing rise of adamant, rigid ideology. There used to be a strong strain of pragmatism in American politics, to where President Harry Truman could say of a major initiative something like, "We'll try this, and if it doesn't work, we'll try something else."

Political polarization is neither new nor as wide-spread as everyone assumes. Don't surveys show that a majority of people are willing to the candidates of both major parties?

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: Jaskalas

Originally posted by: Gonad the Barbarian
They're not getting stuck on the logical parts, the average person just wants their side to win. It's like some ball game where fans of the winning team think they get some sort of personal affirmation because they cheered for the right team. If there's not a logical solution to a problem then nobody should want the government trying to solve it. Hell even if there was an obvious logical solution our government wouldn't necessarily choose it. Us vs them, home vs away, D vs R trump logic in politics.

You hit the nail on the head.

The two party system has us lock-step enslaved to the rule of an elite class. That is why approval ratings are abysmal yet the elections do not reflect and change that. The elections are rigged and disconnected with the will of the people so long as two parties control the ballot.

Until the people in mass realize the solution to our problems is NOT D or R we will continue to spiral down the rabbit hole towards the inevitable splintering of our democracy. In a time when the people are ignored and not represented we will only find representation through local government ? and that requires secession.

These are the two solutions, one of which cannot be avoided. We either fix Washington DC or we bypass it. We either stop voting Democrat or Republican or we secede from their rule over us.

What is wrong with the "elite class" running things? Would you rather have the "average person" running things? The average person is ignorant, naive, and scared shitless of his own shadow. This is not the type of person I want in charge, and I don't understand why others would want him in charge.