Not sure why you call it a joke. It's ultimate democracy on full display. People deserve their governments, as governments continue doing what they're doing having received the license from the people to. There's no way around it.
The fact that most in this blog might not think that way doesn't matter. At all.
The Democratic Primaries have been rigged three cycles in a row. The government of the US is uniquely unresponsive to the demands and preferences of the governed.
No one voted for endless wars. No one voted for private corporations to have private courts from which they can sue private citizens. Only a very few people at the top voted for tax cuts for Billionaires and tax increases on workers.
Thanks to a series of Supreme Court decisions, money is speech and corporations are people. There is no equal protection or semblance of one man / one vote.
The United States is neither a Democracy nor Representative Republic. The US is, by Mussolini's own definition, a Fascist State run by a system of inverted totalitarianism. Both 'wings' of the party are right by varying degrees.
"B-b-but it's not democracy. Real democracy has never been tried."
Are things what they are in theory, or how they turn out in practice?
Assuming (assuming!) democracy always devolved into anarcho-tyranny, would you be for putting the idea to rest forever or would you persist in trying it out?
The Greeks invented the system, and soon after were ringing alarm bells warning people against its dangers.
"No one voted for endless wars." - was there an item to tick for that?
It is democracy in the sense that these politicians/governments are put there/set up with the participation of people. Obviously, a majority of them. Now, you can try twisting "democracy" to suit your own views, but the facts are there, right in front of you.
Say you are starving, and given the choice of eating a shit sandwich or a puke salad. You have a choice; 1. starve or 2. Pretend the shit sandwich or puke salad is the best option, depending on your personal preferences. I guess if you choose number 2, one could argue you were given a free, fair choice.
Yeah, we kind of do. Year after year, we are offered a shit sandwich or a puke salad, and anything appetizing is taken off the menu. This is especially true for the Democrats.
We were brought to this situation by a series of Supreme Court decisions which made corporations people, money speech, and ruled that the parties are not accountable to their voters and essentially private corporations/
Explain in detail. Since you are not forced physically to vote and not threatened by any government action - no fines, no nothing. If you're an American, that is.
You're right. De facto, it's not a democracy. But it still is an *ostensible* democracy, which is where the battle must be joined. I and so many others are having epic philosophical 'wars' among friends and in our own families.
Even highly intelligent people are now bamboozled to rationalize the normalization of lying, and believe that nothing can really be done about the consequences of this development. But lying (common as it is and always will be), and the consequent treating people primarily as objects to be manipulated instead of (moral) equals to communicate with, is at the very center of social breakdowns of all kinds.
If you're asserting the US is a de facto democracy (through representatives), then you're asserting that it functions as one. But if education is unacceptably corrupted, and public discourse is unreasonably stifled, such that people don't understand what they vote for -- then no, there is no de facto democracy, and no, they don't deserve that state of affairs. That is because from toddlerhood they have been channeled, not simply after reaching adulthood, where your argument could have made sense. That's what we have now.
Again, we'll have to define "democracy" in order to argue details. But if, for simplification purposes, we say it's "what people want" then we must agree that it is indeed democracy. What do you see in the USA right now? Every morning there's peaceful commute by people to work, businesses are open, construction is taking place. No bombs are falling. The majority of people are content.
That is, unless you don't believe your eyes and project your thoughts and discontent unto others.
"Every morning there's peaceful commute by people to work ..."
Come visit me in NYC.
",... businesses are open, ....
Ditto. You might want also to check into the ferocious consolidation post-COVID all across the country, any small-to-midsize businesses, esp restaurants, and what that has done to 80% of the country. ...
"... construction is taking place. ..."
Where it is profitable. For the vast majority of residential buyers looking for (literally) affordable housing, not so much. That said, get back with me re CRE next year (if not this fall, as it will still be receiving furious life-support in advance of the [s]election).
"No bombs are falling.'
We'll likely find out again terrorism is a thing if DJT is [s]elected. And God knows what will happen internationally with blowback to the US if the Dem's deep state puppet (Kamala or not) is instead the new (as well as current) occupant.
"The majority of people are content."
You must be having meaningful relationships (i.e. where they tell you the truth) mainly with your own cohorts, rather than a wide variety of people. That, and you believe the MSM packaging, and the comm. output of fed bureaucracies (e.g. the CPI, stuff from BLS in general, etc.)
"Come visit me in NYC." - that's too vague. What do you mean about NYC? Be as specific and detailed as possible, there might be people intimately familiar with NYC wanting to comment.
The rest of your notes are just showing slightly paranoid person who's projecting his/her own state of mind onto others. I'd hold my horses if I were you.
"Only the paranoid survive." Although lifted from another context, I think that well applies to many aspects of living in 2020s, especially in America, especially in densely populated parts. The downside, of course, is that without acting skills one comes across as paranoid.
Commuting via certain subway and especially bus lines can be scary as there are rarely escape routes away from (usually) unpredictable outbursts from randos. But In recently I had done so clear across the city (6-7 miles?) for 6 years. The actual violent crimes incident rates are still quite low, but as I get older I'm not interested in russian roulette. For that reason, these days I often walk the 4 miles (draw a circle) or so to Manhattan when I need to, and can do so timewise. I don't know what info you want that can't be sifted by a poseur from that publicly posted.
"unpredictable outbursts from randos" - that's not new in NYC.
Walking to Manhattan you must be in Brooklyn walking across Brooklyn bridge. Now, try taking subway from south Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, ferry from Staten Island, NJ transit from NJ, Metronorth from CT into Grand Central, LIRR from Long Island into Penn, etc - all in the morning on workdays during rush hour. Try driving into the city at the same time. Do the same in reverse at the end of workday.
What do you see? You won't call it peaceful commute? As peaceful as can be in a huge city? Don't bullshit me and others who know what they are talking about. And don't lie to others who never had a chance to see for themselves.
Not sure why you call it a joke. It's ultimate democracy on full display. People deserve their governments, as governments continue doing what they're doing having received the license from the people to. There's no way around it.
The fact that most in this blog might not think that way doesn't matter. At all.
In what way is this 'democracy'?
The Democratic Primaries have been rigged three cycles in a row. The government of the US is uniquely unresponsive to the demands and preferences of the governed.
No one voted for endless wars. No one voted for private corporations to have private courts from which they can sue private citizens. Only a very few people at the top voted for tax cuts for Billionaires and tax increases on workers.
Thanks to a series of Supreme Court decisions, money is speech and corporations are people. There is no equal protection or semblance of one man / one vote.
The United States is neither a Democracy nor Representative Republic. The US is, by Mussolini's own definition, a Fascist State run by a system of inverted totalitarianism. Both 'wings' of the party are right by varying degrees.
Good to see the cooler heads are represented here.
"B-b-but it's not democracy. Real democracy has never been tried."
Are things what they are in theory, or how they turn out in practice?
Assuming (assuming!) democracy always devolved into anarcho-tyranny, would you be for putting the idea to rest forever or would you persist in trying it out?
The Greeks invented the system, and soon after were ringing alarm bells warning people against its dangers.
"No one voted for endless wars." - was there an item to tick for that?
It is democracy in the sense that these politicians/governments are put there/set up with the participation of people. Obviously, a majority of them. Now, you can try twisting "democracy" to suit your own views, but the facts are there, right in front of you.
Say you are starving, and given the choice of eating a shit sandwich or a puke salad. You have a choice; 1. starve or 2. Pretend the shit sandwich or puke salad is the best option, depending on your personal preferences. I guess if you choose number 2, one could argue you were given a free, fair choice.
Except that it's not a choice. You don't have to eat your vote.
Yeah, we kind of do. Year after year, we are offered a shit sandwich or a puke salad, and anything appetizing is taken off the menu. This is especially true for the Democrats.
We were brought to this situation by a series of Supreme Court decisions which made corporations people, money speech, and ruled that the parties are not accountable to their voters and essentially private corporations/
"Yeah, we kind of do." - how so?
Explain in detail. Since you are not forced physically to vote and not threatened by any government action - no fines, no nothing. If you're an American, that is.
You're right. De facto, it's not a democracy. But it still is an *ostensible* democracy, which is where the battle must be joined. I and so many others are having epic philosophical 'wars' among friends and in our own families.
Even highly intelligent people are now bamboozled to rationalize the normalization of lying, and believe that nothing can really be done about the consequences of this development. But lying (common as it is and always will be), and the consequent treating people primarily as objects to be manipulated instead of (moral) equals to communicate with, is at the very center of social breakdowns of all kinds.
If you're asserting the US is a de facto democracy (through representatives), then you're asserting that it functions as one. But if education is unacceptably corrupted, and public discourse is unreasonably stifled, such that people don't understand what they vote for -- then no, there is no de facto democracy, and no, they don't deserve that state of affairs. That is because from toddlerhood they have been channeled, not simply after reaching adulthood, where your argument could have made sense. That's what we have now.
Again, we'll have to define "democracy" in order to argue details. But if, for simplification purposes, we say it's "what people want" then we must agree that it is indeed democracy. What do you see in the USA right now? Every morning there's peaceful commute by people to work, businesses are open, construction is taking place. No bombs are falling. The majority of people are content.
That is, unless you don't believe your eyes and project your thoughts and discontent unto others.
"Every morning there's peaceful commute by people to work ..."
Come visit me in NYC.
",... businesses are open, ....
Ditto. You might want also to check into the ferocious consolidation post-COVID all across the country, any small-to-midsize businesses, esp restaurants, and what that has done to 80% of the country. ...
"... construction is taking place. ..."
Where it is profitable. For the vast majority of residential buyers looking for (literally) affordable housing, not so much. That said, get back with me re CRE next year (if not this fall, as it will still be receiving furious life-support in advance of the [s]election).
"No bombs are falling.'
We'll likely find out again terrorism is a thing if DJT is [s]elected. And God knows what will happen internationally with blowback to the US if the Dem's deep state puppet (Kamala or not) is instead the new (as well as current) occupant.
"The majority of people are content."
You must be having meaningful relationships (i.e. where they tell you the truth) mainly with your own cohorts, rather than a wide variety of people. That, and you believe the MSM packaging, and the comm. output of fed bureaucracies (e.g. the CPI, stuff from BLS in general, etc.)
"Come visit me in NYC." - that's too vague. What do you mean about NYC? Be as specific and detailed as possible, there might be people intimately familiar with NYC wanting to comment.
The rest of your notes are just showing slightly paranoid person who's projecting his/her own state of mind onto others. I'd hold my horses if I were you.
"Only the paranoid survive." Although lifted from another context, I think that well applies to many aspects of living in 2020s, especially in America, especially in densely populated parts. The downside, of course, is that without acting skills one comes across as paranoid.
Commuting via certain subway and especially bus lines can be scary as there are rarely escape routes away from (usually) unpredictable outbursts from randos. But In recently I had done so clear across the city (6-7 miles?) for 6 years. The actual violent crimes incident rates are still quite low, but as I get older I'm not interested in russian roulette. For that reason, these days I often walk the 4 miles (draw a circle) or so to Manhattan when I need to, and can do so timewise. I don't know what info you want that can't be sifted by a poseur from that publicly posted.
"unpredictable outbursts from randos" - that's not new in NYC.
Walking to Manhattan you must be in Brooklyn walking across Brooklyn bridge. Now, try taking subway from south Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, ferry from Staten Island, NJ transit from NJ, Metronorth from CT into Grand Central, LIRR from Long Island into Penn, etc - all in the morning on workdays during rush hour. Try driving into the city at the same time. Do the same in reverse at the end of workday.
What do you see? You won't call it peaceful commute? As peaceful as can be in a huge city? Don't bullshit me and others who know what they are talking about. And don't lie to others who never had a chance to see for themselves.
"Come visit me in NYC" - do not duck. I'll remember this.
That's so thoughtful of you. Kind of like a stalker. But I'm paranoid, remember?