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Broadly speaking government falls into those categories. I can think of variants, but that is what it comes down to. If you prefer, substitute 'tyranny' for 'totalitarianism'.You are the one who said there are only 2 choices. Totalitarianism or democracy.
Broadly speaking they don't fall into those categories. All governments form into various levels of control but they all control to a certain extent.Broadly speaking government falls into those categories. I can think of variants, but that is what it comes down to. If you prefer, substitute 'tyranny' for 'totalitarianism'.
I agree that all governments make laws the populace must accept. There is nothing controversial in that as I can see.
Except we're not. You seem to think democracy is all about freedom, it isn't.Well then, we are in agragreement
I agree. But I think that it's generally accepted that a democratic state is one where the people can, if they so choose, vote to remove the government. That wouldn't be the case in a totalitarian state.Uh, no. Compulsion is compulsion, period. My point is that there is no such thing as a state offers absolute freedom and to say there is either only totalitarianism or democracy is on the face of it absurd. Democratic states can be just as totalitarian as any dictatorship. They aren't special.
It's only the freedom to vote out those in power. Notwithstanding that some democratic governments are more laissez faire that others so one might allow more freedom than the other. But we're not really discussing party politics here.Except we're not. You seem to think democracy is all about freedom, it isn't.
I completely agree with what you said on Brexit. I was in London on the day of the vote and when I woke up the following morning and switched on the TV I was as shocked as I could have ever been. What I have been reading recently about the change in opinion in the UK prompted me thinking about this thread.The question 'how difficult is it to remove the government from power?' was a test applied by Tony Benn, a British MP to offer a measure of how strong democracy is an any state.
For the countries we live in - UK, Australia and New Zealand - the answer is straightforward. We hold regular and frequent elections and the majority in a fairly contested poll form a government for a while. Apply the test to Russia, China, North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba and numerous other states and the answers are very different.
Now, something I hope will cheer up Bradskii: there is a lot of 'Brexit regret' in the UK. Even hardline Brexiteers are admitting that it has been a failure. There are excuses, of course. For some, including the awful Farage, the fault lies with how badly it was done. Meanwhile, among the population there is a growing understanding that they were conned, lied to, given false promises. They feel tricked into supporting an ideology that they do not share. Others expected all foreigners to be sent 'back home', which of course did not hapen. The xenophobes believed that it would put a stop to immigration, which of course it didn't.
If the same question was put in a referendum the answer would be a decisive 'No', if recent opinion polls are to be believed. (I was a Remainer and now I am a Returner.)
Nor me. Beware referendums!the fact that there is so much regret doesn't cheer me up.
I'm still inwardly debating the compulsory voting aspect. I could easily argue for and against. I guess that both are considerations for the type of system that might improve things. Democracy plus proportional representation as opposed to first past the post and a democratic system with/without compulsory voting.Nor me. Beware referendums!
I rather envy your voting system of proportional representation. What we have got is utterly discredited here.
'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.
Well, it's a democratic process to elect one of them. But you're right - the choice can leave a lot to be desired (I'm looking at at you, America!).We don't exactly live in a democracy.....
Notice our choice of candidates.
It's not a literacy test. It's a civics test. I understand why he's suggesting it. It's because so many people have no clue about the Constitution or how the government operates. They are the folks who believe the government should support all their needs and desires. That the governments purpose is to be a big cash cow for them.Literacy tests? Do Republicans really want to wed themselves to that legacy? The only time that's been used in the US was during the era of Jim Crow, when southern oligarchs and politicians used legal and illegal means to suppress African American votes.
Until the dictator turned on you and decided only his family and cronies deserved to have everything and everyone else lived to serve them and their needs. Everyone else could wear gray clothes and live in a hovel. You'd care then. The difference would be the only way to get rid of him would be to commit treason and overthrow the government.I know where I'd prefer to live.
I can't say I disagree with you, particularly in the last few elections.Well, it's a democratic process to elect one of them. But you're right - the choice can leave a lot to be desired (I'm looking at at you, America!).
I wouldn't at all want to sit with Obama. He always came across as better than everyone else. He looked down on everyone. I wouldn't want to sit down with Trump either. If there were guys I'd sit with at a pub it'd be Bush Jr., Clinton, Reagan and JFK.A close second. Well, not that close.
Certainly dictatorships tend to favour the wicked and the ruthless. And they are difficult to overthrow, though it does happen from time to time. France rid itself of a tyrannical regime. Russia got rid of the Romanovs, even though it has not turned out very well so far.... we simply live in a world where the way things work promotes evil men and women ...
I do think that electorates need to be well educated.
I don't mean the candidates for office.True but do most of them have to come from the Ivy Leagues or highly privileged backgrounds?
The problem with such leaders is they wouldn't know the needs of the under privileged, the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. To ignore the voice of the least, you are encouraging social inequality / injustice. These leads to crime, poverty, mass shootings, etc.
You can't understand oppression, poverty, and utter hopelessness, unless you have lived such life for a long time, well into adulthood. Horrible misfortunes after another. But instead, our choices are always from the opposite end. Those who came from highly privileged backgrounds who can only understand and serve the richest few.
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