Democracy: Is there really such a thing?

[medicineman]

when i do whatever i want to do to myself w/out putting anyone else in immeadiate danger, than i Believe that I should be able to do so

So can i do that in this "great" country?

NO!... there is no such thing as democracy anymore.

FDA that regulates are food, lets companies put perservatives in OUR food that contain carcinogens in them ( Alot of them I might add)

Not to mention the steroids that cow, pig, etc farm use to bulk up their meat.

TO MANIPULATE THE MINDLESS MASSES INTO DOING WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE "WHOLE" ....

ALL the members of RIU should buy an island and move there so we can govern our own state!

Theres are VERY intellegent people on this site .. so to start our own REAL community would be TITS!

There would be world war three on that island, the progressives, (that are extremely outnumbered), would be killed by the rapacious zealotry of the conservatives. The haters would prevail, although, if I were on that Island, I'd surely make a dent in their population before being bulldozed by sheer force of numbers.

 

[ViRedd]

There would be world war three on that island, the progressives, (that are extremely outnumbered), would be killed by the rapacious zealotry of the conservatives. The haters would prevail, although, if I were on that Island, I'd surely make a dent in their population before being bulldozed by sheer force of numbers.

Naw ... at your age these young Whippersnappers wouldn't let you even get started.

 

[ilkhan]

Nope I don't think so Med.
See Libertarians can live just fine with so called "progressives."
Just so long as you progressives don't start pointing guns at us.
Or printing up paper tickets to use as "money."

No if war breaks out between Libertarians and Progressives.
Progressives will be the aggressors.
Progressives will try to seize property.
Thats theft, what do armed people do to theives?

See Libertarians will never stop progressives from entering into volintary contracts.
We will never stop you from being Altruistic.
I think your hearts are in the right place.

The greatest wealth builder in human history,
for all members of sociaty has been free markets and individuality.
People seeking after their own wants and needs.

However, "democracy" is near dead in this country.
We are given by media and pundits only two choices.
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb.
What kind of "Democracy" is that?

 

[doobnVA]

Nope. Libertarians want a federal government that is strictly controlled by the Constitution. Libertarians are for abolishing (not reducing) the IRS and the federal income tax code in it's entirety. Libertarians are for a return to honest money and the elimination of the Central Bank known as the Federal Reserve. Libertarians are for state's rights, free markets, free minds, liberty, freedom and individualism. Libertarians are for a republican form of government. Libertarians, for lack of a better term, are Jeffersonian liberals.

Okay, maybe you're right about Libertarians (I have yet to meet a true Libertarian who didn't sound like a nutjob - no offense to any Libertarians out there), but I still think you're confused about Progressives.

 

[Rob Roy]

Okay, maybe you're right about Libertarians (I have yet to meet a true Libertarian who didn't sound like a nutjob - no offense to any Libertarians out there), but I still think you're confused about Progressives.

Progressives advocate using the force of government to make people comply with THEIR vision. Libertarians are live and let live. Which sounds better to you?

You should not judge libertarianism solely on the people you've met that claim to be libertarian. Please examine the underlying principles of libertarianism.
They are consistent, logical and promote freedom. The problem with either major party is they believe THEY can run your life better than YOU. Libertarians advocate true freedom. The others do not. I don't want to run your life and I sure don't want anyone trying to run mine. Peace.

 

[doobnVA]

I didn't have a say in how it was designed - how is that a democracy?
You can call it a "representative democracy" and while this accurately describes our government, the term itself is an oxymoron. You can't call anything an actual democracy unless everyone has a say in everything. Therefore, a "full-blown" democracy is not possible. How inefficient would it be for the entire nation to vote on every single bill, every single war, and every construction project?
In a full-blown democracy the media would rule everything (as it basically already does). Anything the head of a media corporation doesn't like, he could spin as evil. We already saw this with Obama. The uninformed masses (and no I am not saying if you voted for him you are ignorant or uninformed, I am simply saying Obama won his position based on publicity, not his policies) voted on him because they knew voting on him somehow meant "Change."

** I am in no way seeking to smash your intelligence or anything (like others here...). Just responding with how I see things.

So, because you weren't alive 225-ish years ago when the Constitution was written - we don't have democracy? Preposterous. If that's what it meant to have a democracy, we'd have to re-draft the constitution every time a child learns to speak.

I'll say it again, "democracy" is a loose term. There are different kinds of democracy. A "direct democracy" is not what we have, we are represented by our elected officials which is a representative democracy. I didn't make this stuff up. I agree, it's an oxymoron, but it's how our government was designed to work. The fact that it has become something entirely different isn't really the point - when the founding fathers were brainstorming up our new nation, they decided that this was better than direct democracy (direct democracy being more closely akin to anarchy than an actual form of government - because with direct democracy there essentially IS NO government)

I don't think it would be inefficient at all to have every registered voter weigh in on the legislative process. I mean, if you think about it, it could all be done "online".

Go to a web site, check the issues for the day, read over the legislation (this of course, would require complete abolition of earmarks and other pork), and cast your vote.

At least then we'd know what the PEOPLE really want, right? and more people would be involved, right? We'd actually know, for certain, what it is the PEOPLE want instead of relying on polls or simply hearsay fed to us by the media (which, like you said, is controlled by those corporations who control our government)

Our representative democracy, as I've said before, is NOT representing the desire of the people who elected those representatives. Our representatives, with a few exceptions, are only looking out for the best interest of the corporations who have all the money. This is NOT democracy, and it's an insult to every American who truly believes in the foundation our country was built on.

 

[Iron Lion Zion]

I don't think it would be inefficient at all to have every registered voter weigh in on the legislative process. I mean, if you think about it, it could all be done "online".

Hackers... People who have stolen other's identities... not possible.

 

[doobnVA]

Hackers... People who have stolen other's identities... not possible.

When I say "online", I don't really mean "out on the world wide web". That would be silly, as you said, for security reasons. The registration, voting, and reporting could be done on a different, secure network implemented solely for those purposes. Fingerprint or retinal scanners could be used to verify identities.

It's not impossible, it's just challenging. It would also require the people to trust that the government is not "out to get them", which after our questionable track record public trust in the government seems to have hit an all-time low.