"Man can never be free until the last king is hung with the entrails of the last priest."
Louisa Mae Alcott
(Hint: sometimes what is said is more important than who said it.)
Printable View
"Man can never be free until the last king is hung with the entrails of the last priest."
Louisa Mae Alcott
(Hint: sometimes what is said is more important than who said it.)
Oh I"m not trying to lay blame to one over the other, just to point out that the long decline into a pure democracy has probably been attained. The tyranny of the majority is in full bloom.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregg
Agreed. +1Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
I only wish it was the case, I think it might be less viscious and have better outcomes, though there are no guarantees. Direct democracy shows some degree of self-correction, can you say the same about the politicos? Like 3 strikes law, a bad law implemented by direct democracy, not before much damage was done, but it was just corrected by the people of California.
But beyond state level direct democracy, in no way do I see government policy reflecting what most people would directly vote for. Trade agreements that outsource their jobs much less secret trade agreements? War with Libya? Yea I know there was a great people's movement just busting down the barricades of the white house lawn for war with Libya. Vast data centers to spy on their emails? Help for the banksters? It takes no idealization of mass opinion at all (which is often easily enough swayed by propaganda, by which I mean advertising), to say that this machine is a viscious system that twists the people's will in it's gears, into unrecognizable policy.
As one of the majority this time I take offence. Bush 2 did not even win with the popular vote and he was my president. We have the electoral college to protect minorities. By the way how does it feel to be a minority? Next thing we will have is Republican only toilets and drinking fountains.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
http://joshpease.files.wordpress.com...onceivable.jpg
An oldie but a goodie for sure, although I'm not sure how you can judge what I think it means without first having a discussion on the subject.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Storyteller
I do realize that no meaningful discussions are necessary in today's political environment in order to establish and promote a meme, however enlightening it might be. C'est la vie
It seems implausible on the face of it that elections in which billions of dollars are spent, in which the money is hard to even trace, in which candidates HAVE TO pander to this money, somehow represent majority will rather than being at least somewhat influenced by the will of well ... the money. But I suppose one could argue, sure those with millions to give (mostly corporations) give millions of dollars to our politicians, but still the politicians REALLY seek only to serve the people and what the majority want them to. But that seems a hard case to make.
So here's one way to go about it: you could try to show strong correlation between what polls show people want and the policies we actually get to show strong alignment (yep people are getting exactly what they want ... mob rule gone made). ONLY, I've heard of many polls showing the opposite, the American people are more isolationist (don't want world military involvement), the American people would happily have marijuana legalization (but can only get it at state levels when they have DIRECT DEMOCRACY and the Feds will fight this legalization). Might the American people want true socialized medicine (not Obamacare) as well? I've heard so, I don't know.
Oh, so now you are expecting a discussion on a subject. I thought we were now at the point of dismissing one another using amusing quips, clips, and pics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Then what is the point of attribution if not to lend weight?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregg