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Is Democracy Blocking America's Ability To Solve It's Problems?

Rate the level of interference Democracy has in Americans ability to solve problems:

  • one (no interference)

    Votes: 12 42.9%
  • two

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • three

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • four

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • five

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • six

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • seven

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • eight

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • nine

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • ten (Total Interference)

    Votes: 3 10.7%

  • Total voters
    28
The problem with compromise on spending cuts is that the two parties so far have wanted to compromise on 0.1% cut vs 0.2% cut. No one is willing to talk about real cuts.

well that's not true - for political better or worse, the House Republicans have voted (with four notable exceptions) for cuts enough to qualify as "real". I agree, there is more we could get rid of, but it's a real enough option that they have put out there that Democrats are overjoyed with the possibility of seizing it for purposes of political demagoguery.


as for Democracy, I'm reminded of my Churchill: It is the worst form of government...

...except for all the others. :)
 
well that's not true - for political better or worse, the House Republicans have voted (with four notable exceptions) for cuts enough to qualify as "real". I agree, there is more we could get rid of, but it's a real enough option that they have put out there that Democrats are overjoyed with the possibility of seizing it for purposes of political demagoguery.


as for Democracy, I'm reminded of my Churchill: It is the worst form of government...

...except for all the others. :)

Churchill was right.

but the government is not likely to make any meaningful cuts, nor raise taxes. Doing so just isn't popular.
 
Churchill was right.

but the government is not likely to make any meaningful cuts, nor raise taxes. Doing so just isn't popular.

What is popular is bringing home the bacon to your district. It is no surprise that people generally hate Congress but love their own Congressman. The US was meant to be a Republic, not a democracy. Democracy would allow for people to vote into law legislation that aggresses against the rights of others, which is exactly what we have today.
 
LOL

Yes, bring socialism or communism in to solve the problems.

Ask Europe how most of their countries are doing.
 
Democracy is the best enabler for solutions to problems given all the other forms of government. On reason is that it is slow, it keeps us from steering too much. Intuitively obvious answers are very often incorrect in any endeavor. In business, where there are many vendors for any type of product, there are great rewards for moving as fast as a business can handle. For the general public, if one business screws up and fails we have the others that are still operating and making quick progress. In government we have sequential monopolies of various mixes. Mixes during transition times are slower to be able to take action giving the nonaligned governed time to understand what to do. If a democracy is allowed to screw up big and fast it is doomed, and would probably end up with a dictatorship of some sort. A republic with democratic ‘elections’ (e.g. the general then in congress) at multiple levels that progress over time, is the most robust at solving problems over time.

I bet very few people now think that Medicare isn’t government run and funded by taxes. However, a year ago, I met two at a small Tea Baggers demonstration who were using Medicare, liked it very much, did not want it messed with or made into a government run program! I spent some time disabusing them of what they had been authoritatively informed prior to the demonstration. It takes a few years for the general public to become informed in sufficient detail to vote rationally.
 
They can, providing that the authoritarian is benevolent or wise in policy implementation.
But that's really a comparison between 2 extremes, democracy and dictatorship are both extremes, of similar function.

a benevolent and wise dictator, I like the sound of that...
 
I cannot vote as the United States is not a democracy. That in and of itself is a major barrier in solving problems.
 
Not the Mayor's problem. They get to do what every other AMERICAN has to do when they get canned. They find a new job. They cut back. They lose their house, their car, their six TV's. Who cares? They're doing a job that shouldn't be paid for by taxpayers.

...

Government issued FOOD, not food stamps or any other cash equivalent.

The food will be served in cafeterias, not distributed for home-cooking.

The food will be served to people with valid ration cards, held by people who pass a monthly drug screening.

Government housing will be government housing, not housing mixed in with the productive people. Yes, the Mayor can say "projects", and too damn bad for that. If people don't like them, they should work really really hard to get out of them, if they want to insist on being on the dole, they're not going to do so in comfort. The State DMV will be cross checked periodically to see if any resident of government housing owns a car younger than 8 years old. If so, the vehicle is confiscated and sold at auction to defray the costs of the owner's stay in government housing.

...

No cable TV in government housing. Internet is available at public libraries. No drugs in govenrment housing. No juveniles playing hookey or gang member in government housing. There's this place called "reform school", ideal for the budding young thug who dislikes learning things of a practical nature. No prositution, no crime of any sort.

I agree unnecessary government jobs should be cut. For example, if we find a better system to deliver mail and it results in several layoffs, we can split the savings this way: government dole which minimizes the laid off workers consumption and the rest of it to pays off national debt.

I don't agree the unemployed should have to sell their six tvs or new car or diamond jewelry. No inventory of their finances should be considered, except bank account. If they have enough money saved, they should whether the storm on their own, but only until their accounts are reduced to a few thousands dollars which should be considered a reasonable emergency fund that is untappeable by anyone. Causing people to hock all their nice things will not help the economy or the national debt, it simply transfers wealth over to one side of the country. The idea is to pay the national debt, not make those lucky enough to have a job or the rich richer.

Cable tv and the Internet in our society have gained the status of necessity. Not always, but in many situations it has. Internet has become the standard for job leads. People on the government dole should not have an obstruction to finding work. Cable TV may not always be necessary, but it is still a way many people stay informed and can receive emergency alerts, i.e., tornadoes, abductions, terror alerts, etc. If they can't afford HBO, who cares, but no cable, don't agree.

Agree with you attitude about gang members. I would take things a bit further and allow ideologically discriminating neighborhoods and housing complexes, not racist although. Artists, students, families, even republican, democrat, whatever group was significant enough to justify creating. Many people over-consume because they are only trying to stay away from riff-raff. Encouraging ideologically based neighborhoods would relieve them of this need to over-consume.

Prostitution is a moral issue. I'm not into controlling what people to with their pee pee holes. I don't want the government chasing whores down the street or the gays, unless it's on your own time and it's for amorous intentions. Otherwise, keep your hands to yourself. It's more costly to be illegal than to legalize and regulate. Besides that, there are more prostitutes with rings on their fingers than walking the street. Marriage is not always about love. It's the oldest profession they say.

In terms of the gas guzzling, the energy a suv uses can easily run four households in a day. Meanwhile, there is a guy that gets to an from work on the energy contained in a plate of stir-fried rice because he has positioned his home and work accordingly. Whether oil and gas run out in 50 or 500 hundred years, it doesn't matter. It will run out. We need to change the way we do things. Leaving the problem for our children is not a responsible way to handle it. We need to begin it now. When we choose to put people in our own country on the streets that are willing to work just so we can drive that 4000 pound vehicle, we are lowering our potential and creating social disease. Japanese infrastructure probably would be a good place to begin our study on more efficient infrastructure, although we nave no need to place the nuclear plants so close.

There is a general attitude in America that thinks the welfare office and the employment office are two different entities. This is one of our biggest mistakes in harming the economy. A person should always be kept above from going into squalor, but if they don't find work, our government should then ask them to perform work when it is available and their name comes up. This is what humans have always done in times of past. The father and mother will all wake up their sons and daughters for the hunt or to go the fields. Only the sick and elderly were allowed to be left behind. When times got bad, no one was turned out. They whether the storm together. We miss this attitude today, and it makes us a terrible, snobby, less-productive and stupid looking nation. The Machiavellian philosophy is bs and invokes a less productive attitude upon the masses in general. Instead, people in general are naturally cooperative. They don't need to be called lazy, they need to be called to work. They don't need insults, they need leadership. That's the real solution. Call 'em lazy enough and take all they have including their dignity and you'll make yourself a war inside your own country. How will that pay off a debt?
 
So.... you want to raise taxes on business (most of that tax would be passed onto consumers via higher prices, as always) and force them to downsize MORE than they already have... which means MORE people lose their jobs and go on the dole? This will help the economy and the government's debt... how?

Imports increase the debt. Lowering the imports, decreases debt. Higher prices, lowers consumption, which lowers imports, which lowers the debt.

As far as jobs, downsizing lowers consumption, which lowers debts. It is cheaper to pay welfare than it is to keep them in a job that is unnecessary and pays a luxurious wage. They don't have to live on the street, they'll have a place, food and health benefits. This results in the national debt being lowered from the savings of the downsize and lowered consumption.

Didn't know we had debtors prisons. Do we have children's workhouses too?

Here is one article, there are many on the internet if you search:
America's new debtor prison: Jail time being given to those who owe

Child support is another form of debtor prison. Many people are quick to say back child support means a person is a deadbeat. Most of the time, it is not the case. In these bad economic times, it is getting harder to pay. Putting a parent in jail punishes the taxes payers. Jails are unnecessarily too expensive. Some states try to offset the burden onto the so-called deadbeat parent, but this is just another way for the state to keep a person out of the workforce and redirect money from the child the judicial system. of course they'll never admit that, but it's a fact, because that is exactly what happens. There are better ways to insure a child is supported, but they refuse these ways because their occupations would be at risk. Problems bring cases. Who wants to really implement a law that really is in the best interests of the child?

We may not have child workhouses, but the legal age to be employed is much too high.
 
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LOL

Yes, bring socialism or communism in to solve the problems.

Ask Europe how most of their countries are doing.

Denmark. Only the best place to live in the world. Becaue they do it right there.
 
To quote the usual suspects on these boards.. America is not a democracy it is a Republic...:roll:

On serious matters... I would say the present form of partisan discourse and lack of actual democratic system is a problem. The system is built to keep the status quo and if both sides cant agree then nothing is changed. The lack of will to compromise is a huge problem at present, and when GOP presidential contenders say there is "too much compromise" then you know where that is heading...
 
To quote the usual suspects on these boards.. America is not a democracy it is a Republic...:roll:

On serious matters... I would say the present form of partisan discourse and lack of actual democratic system is a problem. The system is built to keep the status quo and if both sides cant agree then nothing is changed. The lack of will to compromise is a huge problem at present, and when GOP presidential contenders say there is "too much compromise" then you know where that is heading...

I don't know where it's going, so why don't you tell me?
 
I cannot vote as the United States is not a democracy. That in and of itself is a major barrier in solving problems.

a pure democracy would be far worse. The problems come from the fact that winning an election is about the farthest politicians look to the future and getting elected trumps long term solutions to problems. The fact that too many people can be seduced to vote for a candidate based on promises that those voters will be given all they want if they vote for certain politicians and all they want will be paid for "somone else" is a main cause of our deficit issues
 
a pure democracy would be far worse. The problems come from the fact that winning an election is about the farthest politicians look to the future and getting elected trumps long term solutions to problems. The fact that too many people can be seduced to vote for a candidate based on promises that those voters will be given all they want if they vote for certain politicians and all they want will be paid for "somone else" is a main cause of our deficit issues

We have too many people like that under our republic, just imagine..... :shock:
 
More year than there have been between 1776 and 2011, apparently.

You’re talking about dogma. Your general position is that everyone is making the incorrect, stupid, decision about what to do until they have switched to your dogma. Since your dogma isn’t selling that well you may have to wait forever. Sorry.
 
Democracy isn't the problem. Greed is.

Apparently greed is a human characteristic. Maybe a few operate without greed, although most can set it aside most of the time. It’s a given, can’t fix it. Greed isn’t limited to short term gain, informed greed can delay short term gain for long term gain, and it doesn’t always drive or require taking from another. It is generally what drives business. So given how people are, what form a government works best?
 
You’re talking about dogma. Your general position is that everyone is making the incorrect, stupid, decision about what to do until they have switched to your dogma. Since your dogma isn’t selling that well you may have to wait forever. Sorry.

Dogma is not the solution. Dogma is the problem. No, I'm not talking about dogma, but about understanding what the issues of the day are, rather than cheering for a party as if it were a favorite team.
 
Lobbying (a corruption of democracy) is hurting America.
 
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