Democracy ..... over-rated?

[festive1]

Democracy would be better if term limits were eradicated. I never understood the point of them; if enough people want someone out of office, they get voted out, so you can't argue that they prevent people from staying in power too long. On the other hand, if we ever do get a really good leader who does wonders for the country, he only gets to lead for x number of years.

It's like the people who set up the system want it to fail.

Uh oh...*conspiracy*.

But that only works in free and fair elections... At least here in the US they aren't completely free and fair.

[Minimalist]

I agree that democracies have their issues, and also that there really isn't any better form of governance.

Depends on where you are. I doubt that the Copts in Egypt would agree.


For myself, as I get older and even more crotchety I find myself agreeing more and more with....

Few men desire liberty: The majority are satisfied with a just master.
--Gaius Sallustius Crispus

[Darkstar]

Few men desire liberty: The majority are satisfied with a just master.
--Gaius Sallustius Crispus

The problem is finding the right person.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

For both government and for god. Does this mean that god's corruption is infinite?

[Brian37]

The reason I don't like it is that I don't understand the notion that everyone's opinion is valid

Of course not. It was once popular to beleive the sun was a god. It was also widely popular to believe that the sun rotated around the earth.

Here is the rub though. Unless you want to take the dark side of evolution and become a dictator yourself, you have to refrain from treating others the way you wouldn't want to be treated if they found what you claimed to be absurd.

Claims are not equal, but our common human condition is regardless of our beefs or the irrational claims others make. The goal of evolution isn't about fact finding. It's only goal is getting to the point of reproduction. Sugar pills worked quite well for the Ancient Egyptians for 3,000 years. I am not a fan of sugar pills. But I am moreso not a fan of taboos or banning questioning or dissent.

You cannot rid the world of dissagreement. You cannot rid the world of emotions or even irrational claims. You can argue, ridicule and even blaspheme the absurd. But you cannot make clones of 7 billion people to suit your own predilections.

The only rational thing anyone can do is make an argument and even bitch with the agreement that bitching does not negate the fact we all want food and shelter and love and a means to survive. So the solution is far more simplistic than most humans realize.

[Tino]

What are anyone else's opinions on democracy? Personally, I'm not a fan.

Here are your options:

China, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Cameroon, Cuba, North Korea, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emerites, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Moracco, Bhutan, Burma (Mayanmar), Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Syria, Congo, Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, and Turkmenistan. Let us know your forwarding address.

[Polaris]

Very few nations in the world have actual democracy. US for example is a plutocratic republic.

[cratehorus]

Democracy would be better if term limits were eradicated. I never understood the point of them; if enough people want someone out of office, they get voted out, so you can't argue that they prevent people from staying in power too long. On the other hand, if we ever do get a really good leader who does wonders for the country, he only gets to lead for x number of years.

It's like the people who set up the system want it to fail.

Uh oh...*conspiracy*.

Term limits were created (in the US) because FDR was so popular nobody could run against him, I thought you hated FDR?

[Something completely different]

i`ll stick to Churchill

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

i`d rather be ruled by my current conservative-libdem coalition, than be some brainless ant factory worker in a chinese foxcon factory making i phones - being uncapable to understand the metaphors in Ellias Cannetis novel the blinding.

or some primitive sexual frustrated saudi freak, who`s brains capability of creative thought can be discribed metaphoricaly with the desert he lives in.

or some starving north korean who will never eaven hear of Ellias Canneti

[Cyberman]

Democracy would be better if term limits were eradicated. I never understood the point of them; if enough people want someone out of office, they get voted out, so you can't argue that they prevent people from staying in power too long. On the other hand, if we ever do get a really good leader who does wonders for the country, he only gets to lead for x number of years.

It's like the people who set up the system want it to fail.

Uh oh...*conspiracy*.

You have to bear in mind that government, as Ronnie Reagan once said in one of his more lucid moments, is like a baby; an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Term limits have been appropriated, if not actually set up, for the purpose of deferring responsibility. An average lifetime of a government project is somewhere around the ten year mark, which means that in the likely event of it failing, then those responsible have long since either been placed in other positions or removed from office altogether. There is also the useful bonus that the incumbent government can blame the previous one for just about everything that goes wrong while they are in office. In the UK at least, government policy is carried out on a day-to-day basis by the Civil Service, deferring responsibility even further. In all cases it will be deemed unfair to call the responsible persons to account; in the case of MPs, they can hardly be blamed for mistakes that occurred since leaving office, and in the case of Civil Servants, they were simply carrying out government policy and can hardly be blamed for errors of judgement of their political masters.

There is also the fact that the useful life of a government is about eighteen months. The first year or so of a new government is spent settling in and undoing the work of the previous government. Then follows about eighteen months of potentially serious government, after which comes the run-up to the next election. Combine that with the fact that all Parliamentary time for the projected length of tenure will have been tied up long before the new government takes up residence, and it's a wonder that any business gets done at all.

If I should disappear suddenly after this, it'll be something to do with the Official Secrets Act.

[Minimalist]

Very few nations in the world have actual democracy. US for example is a kleptoplutocratic republic.

Fixed that for you. (government by rich thieves)