Democracy is the worst form of government...

[Hvizsgyak]

The truth of the matter is, we don't need a new form of government (the old form being Democracy). Another poster at this Christian Forum (stevew) started a thread that discussed two main opposing views in the US - liberal and conservative. The gap between these two ideologies is the widest it has ever been and there appears to be no slowing down the gap. Many people I heard have suggested this answer and maybe its time we seriously consider it. Divide the US in half, one side liberal, one side conservative. Give people five years or so to pick up and get to the side they want to belong.

Instead of this constant fighting we have every election, polarizing people more and more, lets take example from my country Czechoslovakia and split the US in two. The last I checked (no pun intended) both countries (The Czech Republic and The Republic of Slovakia) are doing well. I don't see why we couldn't make it work here in the US (except for greed sticking its ugly nose in the situation).

I'm sure you are wondering how I would split the US. I think that should be determined by smarter people than me but make sure the citizens of the US hold those people's feet to the fire (and I mean literally, none of this "let's put this into committee for 10 years to consider it").

 

[BPPLEE]

The truth of the matter is, we don't need a new form of government (the old form being Democracy). Another poster at this Christian Forum (stevew) started a thread that discussed two main opposing views in the US - liberal and conservative. The gap between these two ideologies is the widest it has ever been and there appears to be no slowing down the gap. Many people I heard have suggested this answer and maybe its time we seriously consider it. Divide the US in half, one side liberal, one side conservative. Give people five years or so to pick up and get to the side they want to belong.

Instead of this constant fighting we have every election, polarizing people more and more, lets take example from my country Czechoslovakia and split the US in two. The last I checked (no pun intended) both countries (The Czech Republic and The Republic of Slovakia) are doing well. I don't see why we couldn't make it work here in the US (except for greed sticking its ugly nose in the situation).

I'm sure you are wondering how I would split the US. I think that should be determined by smarter people than me but make sure the citizens of the US hold those people's feet to the fire (and I mean literally, none of this "let's put this into committee for 10 years to consider it").

It won’t work. The left wants everyone to be equally miserable

 

[Sketcher]

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947

I've been thinking about this for quite some time (probably a lot more since the Brexit vote). There must surely be a way to improve the way we decide the major decisions that are needed to be made. Surely it's impossible to argue that what we have now is actually the best we can expect. As Winston also said:

'The best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter'.

Somebody please cheer me up and tell me we can expect something better.

Absolute fiat by me. It doesn't work when other people are in charge instead.

 

[Bradskii]

Absolute fiat by me. It doesn't work when other people are in charge instead.

Absolute fiat by whom?

 

[Bradskii]

Heaven will have the best form of government. Something to look forward to, in that perfection will reign. A nice topic of conversation but you really are missing it. Earth will never be perfect and democracy is the best we have found though short lived. Discuss some australian president and inform us Americans of your country. How could democracy be made to live longer?

We don't have presidents (which is one way a system could be better than another). And the question is not how we extend the life of the democratic process but is there a better one to replace it.

 

[Sketcher]

Absolute fiat by whom?

By me.

 

[Bradskii]

The truth of the matter is, we don't need a new form of government (the old form being Democracy). Another poster at this Christian Forum (stevew) started a thread that discussed two main opposing views in the US - liberal and conservative. The gap between these two ideologies is the widest it has ever been and there appears to be no slowing down the gap. Many people I heard have suggested this answer and maybe its time we seriously consider it. Divide the US in half, one side liberal, one side conservative. Give people five years or so to pick up and get to the side they want to belong.

Instead of this constant fighting we have every election, polarizing people more and more, lets take example from my country Czechoslovakia and split the US in two. The last I checked (no pun intended) both countries (The Czech Republic and The Republic of Slovakia) are doing well. I don't see why we couldn't make it work here in the US (except for greed sticking its ugly nose in the situation).

I'm sure you are wondering how I would split the US. I think that should be determined by smarter people than me but make sure the citizens of the US hold those people's feet to the fire (and I mean literally, none of this "let's put this into committee for 10 years to consider it").

The purpose of the op is to discuss how we can manage the differences we have as a people or as a country using a different system than democracy. That is, how do we, and should we, change the process. I don't think that 'let's change the country and have all the people who consider themselves to be on 'the right' over here and all those who think they are on 'the left over there' does that. In fact it suggests a total collapse of any means of reaching an agreement on managing the the problem.

Notwithstanding that if we did that, as the Czecks and Slovaks have done, then what process do either use to run their country? In your example we have gone from one democratic country split into two democratic countries. The systems before and after the split are effectively the same.

This is not a discussion about party politics. It's about the political process itself.

 

[Bradskii]

By me.

Ah. Fair enough. I like your confidence. So you vote for a dictatorship.

 

[FireDragon76]

The truth of the matter is, we don't need a new form of government (the old form being Democracy). Another poster at this Christian Forum (stevew) started a thread that discussed two main opposing views in the US - liberal and conservative. The gap between these two ideologies is the widest it has ever been and there appears to be no slowing down the gap. Many people I heard have suggested this answer and maybe its time we seriously consider it. Divide the US in half, one side liberal, one side conservative. Give people five years or so to pick up and get to the side they want to belong.

Instead of this constant fighting we have every election, polarizing people more and more, lets take example from my country Czechoslovakia and split the US in two. The last I checked (no pun intended) both countries (The Czech Republic and The Republic of Slovakia) are doing well. I don't see why we couldn't make it work here in the US (except for greed sticking its ugly nose in the situation).

I'm sure you are wondering how I would split the US. I think that should be determined by smarter people than me but make sure the citizens of the US hold those people's feet to the fire (and I mean literally, none of this "let's put this into committee for 10 years to consider it").

Aside from the fact it's such an ugly and unpatriotic thought, it would be impractical. Nearly every state has red and blue voters, and even some people in between. Mass migration on that scale is out of the question.

 

[Robban]

Aside from the fact it's such an ugly and unpatriotic thought, it would be impractical. Nearly every state has red and blue voters, and even some people in between. Mass migration on that scale is out of the question.

When in Rome do as the Romans,

to distract the cosmopotan inhabitants and avoid riots,

build colleseums and amphitheaters,

no, that did not work either,


Back to the drawing board.

 

[Bradskii]

When in Rome do as the Romans,

to distract the cosmopotan inhabitants and avoid riots,

build colleseums and amphitheaters,

no, that did not work either,


Back to the drawing board.

Bread and circuses do work. Up to a point. China maybe? But any system can do that.

 

[Robban]

Bread and circuses do work. Up to a point. China maybe? But any system can do that.

Ask any cab driver in Rome, Where are the Romans?

He will tell you, They are gone.

Empires rise and fall, what goes around comes around.

 

[FireDragon76]

Ask any cab driver in Rome, Where are the Romans?

He will tell you, They are gone.

Empires rise and fall, what goes around comes around.

The Romans never went away, even if the state fell (in the west, in the east the Roman state lasted until 1492).

 

[Robban]

The Romans never went away, even if the state fell (in the west, in the east the Roman state lasted until 1492).

If I have the numbers correct that would be 531 years ago,

Don't know about you but I call that gone, is no more,

like in the Monty Pyton sketch, the dead parrot sold as living.

 

[Bradskii]

If I have the numbers correct that would be 531 years ago,

Don't know about you but I call that gone, is no more,

like in the Monty Pyton sketch, the dead parrot sold as living.

I think might be beneficial to discuss what might work better today. Not what did or didn't work yesterday.

 

[Robban]

I think might be beneficial to discuss what might work better today. Not what did or didn't work yesterday.

If you think there is a perfect system to be found somewhere that pleases
everyone,
then you have taken upon yourself an impossible mission.

Mission impossible.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Democracy in itself is not necessarily bad, it's practice is where it falls short. I've believed for some time that there should be a basic aptitude test for people to be able to vote. If you can pass, then you get to vote. Stuff like history (history is important so we don't repeat past mistakes) and government basics (like what's the constitution, etc). Nothing college level, but unsurprisingly I still think a lot would fail such. But that's still good, for then only the informed could vote.

Monarchy is good, provided the ruler is just. But who in the world knows if that will happen or not.

Communism probably sounds the most appealing, the problem doesn't really sit with the theory of communism, it's the practice. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, they say. Give people complete power and they will take advantage of that every time. The system in the US is not communism (not yet) but look at elected officials (not the President), they will stay in office for decades because they like being in control. That's the problem with any form of government really, but communism so much so.

Of course, Christians should not overly concern themselves with these things. We are called to support and pray for our leaders, whether good or evil, just or unjust, for God has ordained them for their purpose, and opposing our leaders in government is kinda like opposing God.

 

[FireDragon76]

I think might be beneficial to discuss what might work better today. Not what did or didn't work yesterday.

I think understanding the past is important for understanding the present, due to the way that the present is conditioned by the past.

 

[Bradskii]

If you think there is a perfect system to be found somewhere that pleases
everyone,
then you have taken upon yourself an impossible mission.

Mission impossible.

That's not the mission. It's to discuss possible alternatives that might be better than the current system

 

[Bradskii]

I think understanding the past is important for understanding the present, due to the way that the present is conditioned by the past.

No argument with that. But we shouldn't necessarily discount a system because it didn't work in days gone by or automatically include one because it did. It needs to work now.