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Discussion and Debate>
Democracy
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me.
1173 post s
27-Apr-2007
9:09 AM
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We hear a lot about democracy. Normally, we hear about it every single evening on the news whenever politics, wars, reasons for invasions, history is the topic. Democracy means "people power" in greek. It means, the people are in charge, make decisions, run their own affairs.
This is what is also meant by those who do all this talking about democracy on television.
I'm not debating the meaning and implications of 'one-party state'. Dictatorship is another one I'm not debating, even though the experts on television always imply, suggest, that dictators are lone rulers. Those sort end up dead; are not dictators for long.
It is this use, ABuse, of the word democracy, like freedom or independence (free market, free elections, independent enquiry etc) that I'm on about. There are no places or countries where the decisions are taken by the masses of the people. There has been, only temporarily, places where such a state has existed, no more than until foreign invasion (intervention) has put a stop to it and restored the old order. There are no democracies. There cannot be, with things arranged how they are. So now, tell me how I'm wrong!
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JB
1595 post s
5-May-2007
2:23 PM
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Unfortunately, democracy in the US has become increasing a code work for "free trade" and economic monopoly. In contrast, I love the ideal of a TRUE democracy. I don't know if there is one, but I do know some governments are better than others. Sweden and Canada are not problem-free, but in my experience come a little bit closer due their socialist elements. Do you think some governments come a little closer to achieving equity and civil liberties?
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me.
1177 post s
10-May-2007
4:30 AM
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Yes but I don't think most of the best examples are the best due to human effort.
Circumstances play a bigger part.
Sweden is historically quite rich, has a high amount of good land, few people, not been attacked for a while. Was it self a colonising power (finland, norway, till recently).So it can afford to be nice.
Canada can afford to be nice.
France can.
Britain can't really - it's living on african/east european/asian debt repayments.
America can afford to bring equality and comfort to its citizens but it chooses not to. This is the human influence in this case - there is no effective opposition to the rich. So the rich get richer. What impresses me more is countries that cannot afford to be nice, but which try to be (and fail usually, but a little improvement is better than none).
This is why criticism of venezuela, cuba, and libya really puzzles me. They could be much worse. And with the help of the US it will be soon enough. Countries that can afford to be nice shouldn't be looked to as models for those that can't.
They live in two different worlds. First and third.
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me.
1180 post s
10-May-2007
4:51 AM
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Democracy. Today - right now- two men are being sentenced to prison terms for leaking a memorandum from bush to tony blur.
The memo contained "illegal" and "offensive" intentions for iraq back in 2003. The judge is unlikely to accept that as a defence however!
The leakers leaked it because they "wanted to show what a madman bush was". I still don't know what the memo said. It's been censored. Blur's foreign advisor, Some israeli-jew guy, says that it would have caused an "international incident". This is how bad it was. I wanna know now, don't I? One question: Democracy? Let's just stop using that word altogether.
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JB
1601 post s
10-May-2007
5:53 PM
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Good points re: Venezuela, Cuba, and Libya. How about Costa Rica? I'm not giving up on democracy, but am instead interested in raising awareness of the word's flagrant misuse via capitalism.
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me.
1182 post s
11-May-2007
4:21 AM
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Democracy update: Today, in a seperate offence, two police officers, one soldier and a journalist have been arrested for leaking government information. I don't know anything about costa rica - please tell!
(isn't it a mere american colony though?)
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