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Not accurate dear boy, I'm a Kiwi/Aussie, I spent ten years in the Aussie army.
By Aussie/Kiwi standards I'm a conservative.
But one has to laugh when conservative Americans say they have a lot in common with Australians, nope, you have very little in common with us.
Oh, the US is a republic, not a democratic republic, unlike Western countries you do not use the one man one vote of equal value system.
Whoa; that is an anomoly that hasn't happened in decades. Can you say the same?
Don't be too complacent or even superior over that one, as some on these very boards are predicting yours are about to commence any day now.
All it really takes is a significant number of disenfranchised unemployed people (you have that) and any number of smart phones to get one going in a Minnesota minute.
Does not take away from the fact that it is going on.
That's why the best country on the planet has a government that is closest to a direct democracy on the planet?
FYI, it's switzerland.
Switzerland's government is based on canton-level politics. From what I understand, Switzerland is not a federalized country like the U.S. nowadays. Switzerland is what the U.S. used to be, politics close to the people, not in some far off national capital that you can't get attention out of. There used to be a time in the U.S. where state and local politics actually mattered, and really influenced what happened in Washington. We've been federalized for decades and our system of government eroding and going for a more top-down structure, unlike Switzerland which is bottom-up. Direct democracy is not always a good thing, look at California, for example. They are a basket case of a state as a result of their initiatives
Switzerland's government is based on canton-level politics. From what I understand, Switzerland is not a federalized country like the U.S. nowadays. Switzerland is what the U.S. used to be, politics close to the people, not in some far off national capital that you can't get attention out of. There used to be a time in the U.S. where state and local politics actually mattered, and really influenced what happened in Washington. We've been federalized for decades and our system of government eroding and going for a more top-down structure, unlike Switzerland which is bottom-up. Direct democracy is not always a good thing, look at California, for example. They are a basket case of a state as a result of their initiatives
At the canton level, half direct democracy is in effect (as it is at the federal level). Actually it is even more direct at the canton level. It would be like if all 50 states had California laws.
At both levels of government, canton and national, direct democracy is the structure and it works brilliantly considering Switzerland is one of the most if not most politically stable places on earth.
To dismiss direct dem just because it doesn't work in california, doesn't mean it can't work. when it works, it is the best system on the planet.
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