Reply With Quote
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” (Winston Churchill)
So, realizing that all of us (at a guess at least) live in a democratic nation, do you consider democracy to be the best form of government going forward? As population increases, individual voices get quieter and quieter, and as government gets larger, corruption finds room to breed.
I know the US and other nations plan to continue to spread democracy amongst the developing nations, but is it really the best form of government for an uneducated, poor populace? Can a democratic government effectively represent the will of the people when there is no majority or consensus?
I'm just curious as to what y'all think and believe.
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” (Winston Churchill)
well, are you really defining democracy on equal terms here? is this western democracy or some other form of it? for instance, mossadeq had as close to a democracy as has been known iran for centuries and that was ended by the CIA and the brits. and then one would hardly call the US backed genocidal regime of general montt in guatemala a democracy.
We are getting close to having some knarly class wars in this country. That'll be the fireworks until we go full blown globalized world government.
Dems are banking on an ever-growing mass of dependent citizens backing their beloved government. Once you have the minorities turning into majorities who feel they owe something to the left b/c of the successful stereotypes of the right/south, that will put this country on it's ass. You will have small fraction paying for all; what they cannot cover the government will just print. It's going to be awesome.
I'm not even sure we have a true democracy in the U.S..
doubt it.
the dems are no different than the GOP in this regard. the IMF has not been reformed nor has the world bank and our neoliberal policies are still the same as they have been since the late 70's.
Two topics I guess. What is the real effectiveness of Western Democracies, will they survive, how will they evolve to fit the needs of a growing populace, without them dropping into socialism?
And the other being, are democracies in 3rd world, unstable countries really worth the effort, or do they just turn into dictatorships as soon as someone with enough charisma and a few ideas "for the good of the people" come along? Or to better phrase that, is it good to force democracy on people that don't have a foundation in place for it?
a democracy is only as effective as the government one puts in place. can one really say that the "democracy" of pinochet was better for chile than the socialism of allende? the US has always seen to it that the government that best suits our needs is the preferred one. thus the removal of mossadeq and the placing of the shah in power in iran. he was not going to nationalize the anglo-iranian oil company.
Last edited by rjv; 07-27-2009 at 03:39 PM.
True enough.
A government is only as good as the limits put on it. The problem with a "democracy" is that it can become tyrannical in its actions, yet retain the guise of legitimacy and morality because, well, the "majority" wanted it that way. I believe that a democracy, limited severely into respecting individual freedoms is the best form of government. A democracy without those limits? Might be the worst.
There is no such thing as a, "true democracy". We live in a republic. All the talk about democracy from politicians is rhetoric, a fancy word they can throw around that sounds good.
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
George S. Patton
The best government is either a benevolent dictator who knows everything or no government with sane citizens that respect each other (evil not practiced by anyone).
Neither exist.
A world government will never exist either unless done by conquest.
Interestingly enough, that lines up with my thinking pretty damn well.
That's why, in theory, we are a republic controlled with the consensus of the people.Interestingly enough, that lines up with my thinking pretty damn well.
Problem is, we have an ever expanding federal government that wants to destroy the republic!
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
