American is in a lot of trouble economically right now and Democracy may actually be the barrier to getting things back on track.
Based upon how you see America's situation, on scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate Democracy being an interference with America's ability to get back on track, where 1 means Democracy has absolutely no interference with solving the problems, 10 means it interferes absolutely with problem solving.
I've actually thought about this from time to time.
Sometimes, it seems that most people know what has to be done. Currently 1/3 of our budget is debt, and our total debt is exceeding our GDP. We are experiencing serious problems with our overseas creditors over this, as well as our trade balance and so forth. The situation could become critical if something isn't done soon.
There's little debate that these are facts. Everyone knows there's two things you can do in this situation; cut spending or raise taxes, or both.
The economy is already so weak and damaged that raising taxes probably wouldn't be good. Drastic spending cuts are what is needed now. This is no secret; probably almost every politician in DC knows it.
The problem is that DOING it isn't "politically feasible". Cut someone's pet project, some town's military base, some person's government check, and they probably won't vote for you next election or send you money to campaign on. Politicians mostly want to get re-elected, so they dither, stall, pass the buck, and hide their heads in the sand... at best.
I learned a long time ago that coming up with a solution to a problem that
would work is not so hard... anyone with a good brain can do it for many issues.
Implementing that solution within the political structure that exists is what is often impossible.
Democracy usually means that most bills (theoretically, solutions to problems) will be compromises. That is, where someone took a workable plan and watered it down and sprinkled it with pork and confusion.
It is frustrating sometimes... but I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet.