Is the US equipped for democracy?

The problem is that one of the major parties has a leader that is world-class. By that, I mean that he is a world-class con-man and pathological liar. He tells lies and persuades his gullible followers to believe them. If it helps his cause to tell a huge lie that the economy is bad or inflation is high, then he will do so. A politician with integrity, like Mitt Romney or John McCain, would never do that.

 

I can tell you that I saw this very topic on the printer in the history/government printer room at my school. I use that one because the science hall printer room is pandemonium at all times. So sometimes while I’m waiting I just peruse what is coming off the printer.

I don’t know exactly what class it was for but it was there. You can find some real gold just seeing what other teachers are printing.

 

It makes them more likely to vote for right-wing politicians, so he's fine with it.

 

This encapsulates what I suspect about current polling related to Biden's approval rating and the economy. Half the people being polled are going to answer in the most negative light possible about Biden no matter the reality.

If Trump were to win the election, the answers by that half would instantly make a 180.

 

aka “it’s a cult”.

 

I’m quite concerned. But you guys have controlled and dominated the eduction system for decades and any lack of knowledge is what you have to show for your efforts. You built it, now you live in it. As long as you maintain control in the manner in which you have been controlling for 30-40 years, this won’t get any better. When you teach children what to think, as opposed as I how to think, you get the echo chamber that you wanted. Unfortunately, a few other negatives showed up along the way, like large numbers of young people buying the Hamas bullshit.

 

They were always viewed as a temporary arrangement along the of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" type "ally..." It's not like they were ever Manhattan Project trusted close allies.

 

Sir, the '90s called and they want their talking points back.

 

Where do you live? Can't be Florida.

 

I guess no one else sees it but the OP is basically saying that the 50% of the uninformed stupid people in this country are ruining it for the other 50% of the uniformed stupid people.
It's just he doesn't agree with those stupid people but is ok with the other ones.
And guess what, those numbers also hold true for the ones we elect to represent us since they are coming from the same populace.
Histrionics at it's finest.

 

I dont think this is the case, but we certainly lack the democratic foundations at the community and state level to be functional nationally

 

I thought we agreed that it was the end of real news and the birth of infotainment? It’s not new didnt Jackson brown have a song dirty laundry maybe 40 years ago?

 

Do you really wonder? Seems like they are basically just telling people they are anti-democratic. That's pretty clear. I dont worry about them, they are hopeless. I worry more about the people who have convinced themselves the USA is a highly democratic country to begin with. Sometimes I wonder who has a better understanding of the country they live in.

 

Representative democracy come to mind. A pure democracy would be every one voting on every issue. California’s proposition thing is closer to a pure democracy.

 

When one thinks of a democratic government it virtually always refers to a representative democracy. The only real example of actual governance by pure democracy are some small New England towns in which all issues are decided at town meetings in which every adult resident of the town has the right to vote, a form of government dating back to colonial times.

 

Not practical to have every citizen vote on every issue, so we elect representatives at all levels ( fed, state, local) to do that for us. Not that complicated. Split hairs until the cows come home, the same ideas apply in terms of having an informed and involved citizenry.

 

That's not really the right way to think about it IMO. 'Representation' doesn't equal democracy , nor does democracy equal 'representation.' Democracy is a set of practices and a way of collective decision making. People get hung up on majority rule as being the essence of democracy when it isnt. Like voting to make a set of people unequal, isnt 'democratic' at all. Democracy is an egalitarian belief, one that is hostile to hierarchies and dominance. Which is why so many people are hostile to it, or come up with scare stories about "pure" democracy, which isn't an actual thing, really. We never really say things like "pure republic" or "pure monarchy."

 

Its probably more practical now than it ever was at any time in human history. It would be super easy to hold referendums on any vote our representatives were making, whether it was binding or not. We have all the means in the world to poll people on stuff, and generate quick results, if we truly wanted to invest in it to make the system more democratic. But that would mean removing money from politics too.

Representation is all well and good, but of course, the other main problem here is our "representatives" represent geography instead of people, which isnt democratic to begin with. Not to mention there are artificial caps on representation so as to dilute any sort of democratic will.