Replying to Democracy

While I happened to go through your post, I discovered that very little was mentioned about the Parliamentary form of government. In this type of government, the president is rarely has active participation in the functioning of the government. I live in India and here the President is mostly regarded as the nominal head. He has some special powers but as the name suggests those can be only used under special circumstances, the legislature or the Parliament as it is known in our country takes care of the accountability of the government.Moreover, I find people including myself often complaining about democracy but what do we have as an opyion and something which is better. There have been several forms of government but none could manage to survive as successfully as Democracy has done. What we should do on our part is make the existing form better by staying vigilant and know our rights and responsibilities well. Also performing all our duties would help serving the purpose.

Communism IS NOT A GOVERNMENTDemocracyReplying to dangerdanOk, just for future reference, Communism IS NOT a government system.Communism, by theory, is a SOCIETY (not government) where everyone works on the behalf of everyone else with the knowledge that everybody will do the same for them.China is a socialist country.USSR was socialist.Ants are communist. And from what we know so far, Communism is the most effective though the least individual. The reason why humans fail at Communism is because humans aren't perfect, and will always want power and individuality. If ants became intelligent, and we went to war with them, we would lose terribly.-reply by notacommie

I'll begin with what I hope is a useful point for the topic starter.

"I would think that a democratic government is a better government than the other ones (Like the one wherein there is only one ruler, and what he/she says goes)"

Other forms of government to democracy include fascism, communism and socialism though these often become construed to some kind of dictatorship. Autocracy is often cited as the antithesis of democracy. However it is problematic to officially say what any form of government is (unless it is a democracy.)
Another form of government outside of these two is a theocracy - a government based on religion - of which the most obvious example is an Islamic Republic such as Iran or Afghanistan.


And now for my thoughts regarding democracy, I would also like to know what you think about the issue!

Should voting in a democracy be compulsory? The ballot slip would therefore could a box to abstain but the point is that people would still have to turn up and vote for abstain. I think it would be problematic but with such low voter turnouts how can any society truly claim, in my opinion, to be a democracy.

If you like the freedom of democracy so much, why not look into libertarianism?

It is a political philosophy in which the only purpose of the state is to ensure that nobody's rights are infringed. A person's success only comes by hardwork and luck.

Libertarianism gives everybody total freedom as long as it does not infringe on anybody else's rights. An example is if a guy wants to make a public speech on something against the government, the government cannot take any action as it is his right to have freedom of speech. Also, it solves the problem of corrupt governments as in libertarianism, there should not be a person of absolute power.

However, libertarianism is not pratical in the modern world. In my opinion, humans when left alone will turn savage (reference to The Lord of The Flies by William Golding). Also, there is no fix definition of individual rights. Thus, there will be many misconceptions of individual rights and the state will be in chaos.

In theory, democracy gives the people the right to overthrow the government when they feel disatisfied with the government (actually, this is more of Social Contract).

Just the thoughts of a 15 year oldSingapore

-reply by Kenneth

 

Basically, we are more interested in our personal benefits and peace when it comes to choosing our system of Govt. and a leader. When it comes to Politics, no matter who you are, you are forced to support some xyz leader. Regardless of what system of Government we like, we know one thing for sure, either of the system is going to use one primary weapon. MEDIA.

If you ask my opinion about MEDIA, I hate it. Its this media which prevented the World War 3 in first place and the fear which should had been done and over with,say years back is still pressed in all of us. If Media had not shown all the poor and innocent people dying to win sympathy, We would had been quite peaceful. Because Nuclear energy does bring peace in the end. So, regardless of the choice we make about the type of Govt, its in the people we put our faith and trust in who make things work.

Talking about People and Media, I must include, Govt. guys should release their right to material ownership if they have to be the president/minister.. anything. Now, out of the population which scales in Millions & Billions, thinking about the person who is self-less is the key. This guy has all the right for a good pension + a good family but anything more than this... NO.

Laws are put in place to make a human independent. Not, make him more dependent on thousand other people in society. Laws (and media as well) must support God's divine plan.. it must help the growth of wisdom, peace, knowledge, spirituality, respect for all, pure truth and if possible, Media should be directly under Government.

Lets not talk about people and managing others and running a nation. Let's talk about our own selves, fortunately born as humans. Every human is born as a DOG. A Dog is filled with pure-love (atleast, mine is..) and is completely guided by its instincts. All needs like food, water, procreation are satisfied by this human/dog without much of any higher intelligence. In Humans, the ego is slowly building with the growing mind and he usually defines things as good which are good to him (& vice versa).

He starts enjoying the choices of life and learns the power to reason. Once mastered the power to reason, a man no longer jumps on food as soon as he sees it. He looks, observes, thinks if it is edible etc. and then takes a step forward. Humans are the only animals who have such great power of reasoning and this must be used by every human regardless of what he learn't from his past... every other HUMAN you met including MOM/DAD are humans who kept teaching you and answering you directly or indirectly. Being a human, you couldn't help but LEARN and SCULPT your being. So why the Politicians are STAMPED BAD! Is he/she not a DAD or a MOM? Regardless of what we say, the opposing TEAM of any politic struggle has MORE CoRe information that us sitting here and discussing. If its faults we gotta say and talk, we have it all in BULK from the same MEDIA behind which we sit and watch.. usually enjoying our pop-corns.

My point is, Every human, including his Mom, his Dad, his relatives etc. were/are doing their respective DUTIES. Its us who always missed the RIGHT QUESTION at the RIGHT TIME to get real understanding of ourselves. There is no point in arguing why things are the way they are.. However, we know one thing. Everything is fine as it is. Bill Gates as well as Bush, both are rich, both are blessed with fame... so is Paris Hilton. They got their set of problems and they are doing their duties of entertaining, administrating etc. so that you are me can enjoy. Ofcourse, they want to be noticed and remembered as well, as yes.. humans do mistakes.

Whats the REAL use of "Power of Reasoning"?
What is the limit of "Power of Reasoning" and who/what defines those limits?

Every humans "power of reasoning" must be used for a good cause of SELF REALIZATION and SELF-KNOWLEDGE. Its this place where True knowledge lies... Well, I dunno about today's world thinking, but Jesus definately agrees with me.. And so does Allah and Krishna.

WHAT WILL I GET BY USING MY POWER OF REASONING? WHERE SHOULD I BE USING MY FIGHTING SKILLS? AGAINST WHOM?

Yes, once a human starts to REASON.. he finds issues and by going further deep into subject, he gets solutions as well. Realize your REASONS and find the answers using your own will. Truth never changed for anyone and never bill be.. your inner voice kept giving you right answers then, now and will do forever. Its time, you turn your attention off the world and give it a ear :-)

Its now when one successfully learns his/her REAL NATURE, he uses his will, strength and courage to find against his own issues/problems. A human for. eg. shall fight with his addiction to drink and sleep very late at night. Its a human of this nature I call a TRUE WARRIOR or FIGHTER.

Once you get successful in your fight from being a DOG to attain the glimpse of the real "you", you are now eligible for the title of "Man" (who is truly a reflection of -> God) :-)

Direct Democracy would really be the best type of government. But with 6 billion people in the world, it's almost impossible to have this. Its origins are from Athens, I belive, where the people directly participated in decision making. with light editing

The origins indeed go back to the distant past. The original Democratic city-states did not survive. That is an indication of problems with it.

Democracy: Say what you like, but do as you are told.

That perspective has been changing. Most countries that hold elections now have "speech codes", Human Rights Laws or governments that arbitrarily enforce restrictions on free speech.

The U.S. has been an exception. If polls are correct, that is about to change. Democracy depends on voting. The vote process in the U.S. has been increasingly corrupted over recent decades. It became more obvious with the passage of the Motor-Voter Law, shortly after the first Democratic President in a decade (Bill Clinton) was elected.

The process is now blatant: The Complete Guide to ACORN Voter Fraud. The "authorities" have been notified, and they have no interest in addressing it: Contacting the Justice Department. Basically, the U.S. Federal Government has been taken over by a large number of people who are hostile to democracy.

Note that Barak Obama, the candidate whom polls predict will win the Presidency, has been deeply involved in training ACORN personnel. His campaign committee funds ACORN. So does the Democratic Congress, which has inserted "earmarks" for them. Obama is himself a student of Marxists, and is actively supported by them, both from inside the U.S. and from outside (which is illegal, but ignored, like ACORN).

There was an attempt to insert another earmark for them in the very recent Financial Bailout Bill. I have read that it was removed. I have not verified this, but it is actually small change compared to previous earmarks. The process is discussed at Public Markup.org. [search on ACORN]

The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund [search on "Housing Trust Fund"] sets aside a portion of the expenses on every mortgage financed in the U.S. to pay into this "Trust Fund," whose primary use is to finance ACORN!

By the way, if you think the Presidential challenger, John McCain, is against ACORN, read this: McCain and his friends at…ACORN.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.

attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, but I believe a similar quote can be found in a Roman Empire document.

The U.S. was established as a republic. It was converted to a democracy in stages by politicians who resented the constraints on their power. Its finances were taken over by external (and some internal) forces in 1913 by the establishment of the Federal Reserve. Now it appears that the same financial cabal is engaged in a carefully-planned takeover of the U.S. financial system and its government, quite possibly with the intention of taking over the world economy as well.

Prepare for a bumpy ride!

Democracy: Say what you like, but do as you are told.

That may sound cynical, but it is true. Our politicians don't ask us what we want when they are electioneering, they tell us what they propose to do once elected. Once elected they then do as they want anyway.

Not only that, when there is an important moral vote, they vote on partisan lines, they do not vote according to the wishes of their constituents.

True democracy can only be carried out by the use of committees, beginning at ground level where the wishes of the people are paramount, those wishes being passed to those in power. Something which would never work just because of the sheer scale of work involved, and different people wanting different things.

I agree that we don't really live in a fair democracy, and sometimes I hate the elections, because there really aren't anyone for whom to vote, they all seem to be the same politicians, even though sometimes it can get different, a lot of times happens that a popular guy gets into the government, I mean an actor, musician or tv show artists, something like that, so..

I suppose it comes down to needs and requirements for people, and in effect, what the people want. That is the core of democracy - letting the people decide for themselves, and thereby maintaining a just and fair system. So yes, if democracy is enabled to work, I believe that it is the best system. However, every system has its flaws, and there are always arguments over different facets of the same word.

Like tudor said, I don't think we live in a fair democracy. But who's fault is that? Ours.

Any form of representation, without proportional representation, is not a democratic representation.