Hello Everybody,

"Why not the best?"
~ Jimmy Carter, Leader of the Free World, 1977-1981

Yes. Why not the best democracy in the world?
Ever since the late 1960s, the USA has been sliding
from having once been a full democracy to now being
a very flawed democracy. Just look at the list -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index


Hard to imagine. 22 countries being full democracies
around the world, as of 2019. With the USA not among
them. That is how far the USA has fallen.

Gotta dip down to 25th place to find the USA's current
standing (2019) as a flawed democracy. Things really
started going downhill in 2016 when the orange one made
his appearance as a candidate for president. But let's
not place all the fault on a clown who knows nothing
about history or much about anything else.

Look at the top ten full democracies -

1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Sweden
4. New Zealand
5. Finland
6. Ireland
7. Denmark
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. Switzerland

That certainly shows a lot. All the Scandinavian countries,
along with a few islands, and two sparsely populated large land
masses having full democracies. Along with one place where all
the lassies yodel.

And then there are the next three entries -

11. Netherlands
12. Luxembourg
13. Germany

Yes. Adolf's favorite place. Now a full democracy, well ahead
of the USA. It would be funny if it was not true.

14. United Kingdom
15. Uruguay
16. Austria

Winston Churchill would have loved it. His kind of place, where
he could get all his drinks for free, and not having to worry about
finding a place to smoke a skogie. And Hitler's birthplace being the
new tourist attraction for all ...

17. Spain
18. Mauritius
19. Costa Rica
20. France
21. Chile
22. Portugal

Yes, my friends. The USA really has fallen from great heights.
But that's okay. Trump is always right. Make America Great Again.
That was his motto four years ago. Make America Great Again. Again.
And Again. And Again. And Again. And Again. And Again. And Again.

--Lee

--
Lock him up!

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On 23/09/2020 09:08, 2203/2 wrote:
[...]

Look at the top ten full democracies -

1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Sweden
4. New Zealand
5. Finland
6. Ireland
7. Denmark
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. Switzerland

[...]
What is a democracy?

A quick Google gives me:

"Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and constitution. Wikipedia"

In the time I have been in Australia the duly elected leader of the country has been deposed and replaced a number of times by inner party turmoil.

I'm not sure Australia qualifies as even 9th on this list, not only does the leader get changed without voter input, but the voters have very little say in the legislation (gay marriage not withstanding, they actually had a referendum about that)...

Then again, it doesn't really affect me, I'm not eligible to vote being a foreign bugger.

I've thought of having the lobotomy and becoming an Aussie citizen so that I can vote but I fear that voting just encourages the bastards.

--
Regards
David

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Hello David!

23 Sep 20 15:36, David Drummond wrote to Lee Lofaso:

I'm not sure Australia qualifies as even 9th on this list,

Did you already consider looking up the cited Wikipedia page to find out how the index that is used for the ranking is derived?


Regards,
Gerrit

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Hello David,

Look at the top ten full democracies -

1. Norway
2. Iceland
3. Sweden
4. New Zealand
5. Finland
6. Ireland
7. Denmark
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. Switzerland

[...]
What is a democracy?

Four wolves and one lamb voting on lunch.

A quick Google gives me:

"Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority

to

choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and constitution. Wikipedia"

People? What people? Whose authority? Mine? Yours? Whoever claims it
as his own? Please, whoever wrote the above garbage can certainly come
up with something better than that. Far better. Such as -

"Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people
may take away the rights of the other 49%."
~ attributed to Thomas Jefferson

In the time I have been in Australia the duly elected leader of the

country

has been deposed and replaced a number of times by inner party turmoil.

Must be the dingos. Aussies really should have given them the right
to vote. But noooooooo ......

I'm not sure Australia qualifies as even 9th on this list, not only does

the

leader get changed without voter input, but the voters have very little

say

in the legislation (gay marriage not withstanding, they actually had a referendum about that)...

Well, you have only yourself to blame on that one. After all,
Kiwis are #4 on the list rather than #9. Probably because they
sent all their dingos to Australia.

Then again, it doesn't really affect me, I'm not eligible to vote being a foreign bugger.

Children can't vote. Even if they are not foreign buggers.
But adults who are senile can vote. As well as adults in mental
institutions. If we want to continue saying we are for freedom,
we really should show the rest of the world we mean it. We can
do so by letting everybody vote. From the time they have been
born, to the time they kick the bucket. No matter who they are,
where they came from, or how they got here.

I've thought of having the lobotomy and becoming an Aussie citizen so

that I

can vote but I fear that voting just encourages the bastards.

All I care about is getting my free lunch. Lamb chops, anyone?

--Lee

--
Donald Trump! Go away! Racist, sexist, anti-gay!

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the USA has been sliding
from having once been a full democracy to now being
a very flawed democracy.

A democracy means that the people are ruling. Usually via elected proxy for practical reasons.

A country where the companies rule, albeit also via proxy, is called fascist. Yes, that's the original definition from Italy where it was invented by Mussolini. It has nothing to do with what people today usually think -- dictatorship or similar.

In a country where the lawmakers compete with how many donors and how much money they can collect -- I'd say that's more like fascism than democracy...



..

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Hello Björn,

the USA has been sliding
from having once been a full democracy to now being
a very flawed democracy.

A democracy means that the people are ruling. Usually via elected proxy

for

practical reasons.

Thomas Jefferson's definition was "mob rule" in which the majority
has all the say at the expense of the minority.

A country where the companies rule, albeit also via proxy, is called fascist. Yes, that's the original definition from Italy where it was invented by Mussolini. It has nothing to do with what people today

usually

think -- dictatorship or similar.

Mussolini was an ex-journalist and a war veteran. He first came
up with the idea of fascism in 1915. He defined it in his treatise
"Doctrine on Fascism" in 1932, long after he had taken power in
Italy. However, his term does not fully explain what fascism is,
and has become.

"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the
people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is
fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by
any other controlling private power." ~FDR

There are many other definitions, by others, that come to mind.
But one thing remains constant about every definition - fascism is
a form of capitalism.

In a country where the lawmakers compete with how many donors and how

much

money they can collect -- I'd say that's more like fascism than democracy...

Mussolini was limited by the guilds as to what he could, and could
not do. Trump is not limited by any political party, or faction. In
other words, there is no check to what he can do as America's own
"Il Duce".

Masha Gesssen wrote an interesting essay back in 2016, titled
"Rules for Autocracy", that is quite telling about what we have
in office today. I think she has since expanded it into a book.
Here are her six rules -

Rule #1: Believe the autocrat.
Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.
Rule #3: Institutions will not save you.
Rule #4: Be outraged.
Rule #5: Don't make compromises.
Rule #6: Remember the future.

I would like her to add a Rule #7: Pray.

--Lee

--
Nothing sucks like an Electrolux

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Thomas Jefferson's definition was "mob rule" in which the majority
has all the say at the expense of the minority.

Well, Trump and his faithful followers have now openly explained how they are going to steal the upcoming election, making USA a Putin satellite, so the matter is moot.




..

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Hello Bj”rn,

Thomas Jefferson's definition was "mob rule" in which the majority
has all the say at the expense of the minority.

Well, Trump and his faithful followers have now openly explained how they are going to steal the upcoming election, making USA a Putin satellite,

so

the matter is moot.

What goes around comes around. The last time this sort of thing
came about was at the end of WWI, when Germany put Vladimir Lenin
on a train to Russia. We all know what happened next.

Czarist Russia had basically committed suicide. Russia was
in chaos when Lenin arrived from Germany. All he had to do was
pick up the pieces.

Trump has been dismantling our democratic institutions, and acting
in much the same way as the czars of Russia. It is only a matter of
time before the USA finds itself in the same position as Russia
prior to Lenin's arrival.

--Lee

--
Drive One

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Hello Lee!

26 Sep 20 18:00, Lee Lofaso wrote to Bj÷rn Felten:

What goes around comes around. The last time this sort of thing
came about was at the end of WWI, when Germany put Vladimir Lenin
on a train to Russia. We all know what happened next.

Can't you come up with some new conspiration theory? This one is more than a bit dated.


Regards,
Gerrit

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Hello Gerrit,

What goes around comes around. The last time this sort of thing
came about was at the end of WWI, when Germany put Vladimir Lenin
on a train to Russia. We all know what happened next.

Can't you come up with some new conspiration theory? This one is more

than a

bit dated.

Bj”rn mentioned a mad Russian first ...

--Lee

--
I won't fan the flames of hate, ~Joe Biden

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Hello David,

What is a democracy?

The Great Debate.

Did you watch it?

Them two ladies in New Zealand really do know how to put on a show!

They came on the air right after the other debate. You know the one
I am talking about. The one with two old guys going after each other
tooth and nail. 73 million Americans watched that one.

It was the late night debate in New Zealand between two lovely gals
that everybody should have been watching instead. But hey. Americans
are stupid. Probably thought they were watching a football match on
an indoor field.

Anyway, those two gals were much younger, by at least 50 years.
And both in great shape. And to think, the incumbent had a kid while
in office. Talk about my kind of gal.

The two main topics in the debate (the one in New Zealand) were
legalisation of marijuana and euthanasia. The incumbent admitted
she smoked pot, but refused to say when or how much. The other
gal (the challenger) chose to remain silent on that matter, as
she claims to be the law and order candidate. As for euthanasia,
I doubt either of them need any help to off themselves, as they
are politicians.

The question is, and the world wants to know, is as a Kiwi what
is your position on those two issues? Are you in favor of smoking
pot? Or do you want it to remain a crime to get high? And what
about euthanasia? I mean, how much help can anybody need to off
oneself?

A quick Google gives me:

"Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority

to

choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and constitution. Wikipedia"

Mob rule. With everybody being his/her own anarchist.

--Lee

--
Everybody Loves Our Buns

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On 2/10/2020 02:14, 2203/2 wrote:

Hello David,

 DD>> What is a democracy?

The Great Debate.

Did you watch it?

Nope - saw the "highlights" during the news but didn't pay too much attention. A coupe of USAian nutters doesn't really grab my interest.

Them two ladies in New Zealand really do know how to put on a show!

I didn't see theirs either, nor any "highlight" clips.

[...]

The question is, and the world wants to know, is as a Kiwi what
is your position on those two issues? Are you in favor of smoking
pot? Or do you want it to remain a crime to get high? And what
about euthanasia? I mean, how much help can anybody need to off
oneself?

I personally think it should be decriminalised, and a tax placed on the commercial production. They'd save an enormous amount not chasing after it, not paying to incarcerate users, and get the income from the tax.

Euthanasia - I think that should be legal but subject to a fair amount of overview. I'd rather that someone didn't tell me that because I'm getting on in years then I have to top myself. One of my friends did it to himself a couple of years ago and I was troubled over why that happened.

REMEMBER, I am not an enrolled voter r New Zealand - I have been out of the country for more than 40 years.

 DD>> "Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to
 DD>> choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is
 DD>> shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and
 DD>> constitution. Wikipedia"

Mob rule. With everybody being his/her own anarchist.

Yep - majority rule.

--
Regards
David

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