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Wrong question. The proper question is what have you done for the system?
Not necessarily. That would depend on the level of government and local rules.
Because you're not involved.
There's more to Republican Democracy than merely showing up at the polls every four years.
That's your fault, for not boycotting the Media.
You gave the Media the power it has, and now you're mad. Only you can take the power away from them, and you can do that anytime you want.
That is not true.
For example, the Libertarian Party has been around since the 1970s, and what have they done?
They've done nothing very slowly.
If I would be a Libertarian, in those 40 years, Libertarians would have controlled school boards, township councils, county commissions, city councils, mayorships, and had representatives at both the State and federal level....and then perhaps you'd have a Libertarian president.
But, that's just me.
So you want me to vote for someone who can't win? OR vote for the two of lesser evils.
So you are telling me to participate in a system that seems to be getting worse every four years. Things are getting worse & by voting the way we vote now. Not better not even close. IF no one voted the house & the senate would vote for you. My not vote is my way of saying that I will not participate in what I feel is not working. And I don't watch TV might be mad at yourself there.
It what I find really strange. You vote nothing changes yet in four more years you vote AGAIN & STILL nothing has changed. It doesn't matter which party is in office nothing happens it just gets worse.
Here we are in MORE debt our schools are getting worse yet the solution is to blame the OTHER party. You run around with your blinders on pointing your finger at the other party when they are one in the same. And those like me who refuse to vote are the problem? I think not.
Last edited by Jeo123; 01-22-2016 at 10:45 PM..
Reason: Tag fix
Well, except for 2000, I don't believe that going with the popular vote for POTUS would have changed the results in any 20th or 21st election, so what's the point?
Because something has to give. If we keep doing things the way we are now then we might as just roll over & give up.
Then in the off years start promoting them with your friends and folks that agree with your point of view. When election time comes work to get them on the ballot then vote for them. The more people vote for an alternate party the easier it is for them to get on the ballot the next election cycle. Spin, wash and repeat until the party of your choice gains traction. It will not happen over night but the process has to begin somewhere and it is more than you will accomplish by sitting at home griping.
Last edited by Jeo123; 01-22-2016 at 10:47 PM..
Reason: Tag Fix
If you study political revolutions, only 10% of the population actually participates.
That's even true of your own "revolution" (snicker) which was actually a War of Colonial Independence. Better than 35% of the people supported the Tories, and the rest, excluding the 10% actively participating, didn't care.
Remember that the majority approved of Slavery. The majority approved of confiscating the assets and property of Americans of Japanese ancestry and imprisoning them.
So, the majority is not a moral compass.
So a tiny minority should control what kind of life the majority has. I don't think so.
Your examples are issues in and of themselves, and not exactly a blue print for democracy.
here is another tidbit: The dominant Republican party of Lincoln confiscated and ran ALL of the Railroads in the North during the Civil War. IIRC no compensation to the owners was ever offered. BTW - This was a major part of the USA winning the war against slavery.
Then in the off years start promoting them with your friends and folks that agree with your point of view. When election time comes work to get them on the ballot then vote for them. The more people vote for an alternate party the easier it is for them to get on the ballot the next election cycle. Spin, wash and repeat until the party of your choice gains traction. It will not happen over night but the process has to begin somewhere and it is more than you will accomplish by sitting at home griping.
Yet you all vote & you gripe all the time.... A third party will not get into office unless we change the way the voting process. And people do complain about the media giving the two parties all the attention yet nothing changes.
A third party will not get into office unless we change the way the voting process. And people do complain about the media giving the two parties all the attention yet nothing changes.
By "process," are you referring to the requirements for gaining access to the ballot? If you, are then indeed it needs to be changed but that can only be changed by the respective state governments. As for the media, that's "easy" the more power you acquire the more attention one receives from the media. Look, the Tea Party is a shining example on how to build a viable alternate party and very well could become one if they choose to do so.
We are never going to harmonize the values of California/New York/Massachusetts with those of Wyoming/Mississippi/South Dakota. It's just not going to happen.
Excuse me, I am moderately conservative and I live in California, where Republicans almost always get 40% of the vote and occasionally win (Schwarzenegger served two terms as governor). Why do you believe a whole state, the size of Japan or Italy, thinks one way? Your proposal would disenfranchise me by not allowing me to combine my vote with votes in "red" states.
And I have friends in places like Texas who are very liberal or radical. They don't want to be disenfranchised either.
Hahahaha Thank You for the Faux News report hahahaha Film at 11 hahahaha Yes lets go heavy on states rights hahaahahaha aka Civil War... a Few Old Rich White Men convince a LOT of poor young ignorant white men to fight and die for something that would ONLY ever benefit ? Those FEW Old RICH WHITE MEN..Its MUCH easier for a Few OLD Rich White Men to totally control a STATE than it would ever be to control a NATION .. Though Faux News is standing Up For The Challenge hahahaha
Your solution smacks of totalitarianism. Ban contributions from interest groups = not allowing citizens to pool their resources to speak with a louder voice than any of them could do by themselves. (I see Citizens United as being a ringing endorsement of the First Amendment.) Banning smear campaigns = not allowing the freedom of even unpleasant speech. Fact-checking on penalty of fines = a slippery slope to the government deciding what is "true" and thus can be broadcast, versus what is "false" and thus must be banned.
No, the Founding Fathers did not screw up. They created the single most amazing and effective governmental structure ever known to mankind in all of human history. Unfortunately, we have strayed from their brilliant system. What we need is a vigorous enforcement of the checks and balances that were built into the system, so that too much power will not accrue to any one branch of the government.
As for splitting the country up, I admit to indulging in that fantasy sometimes. But the Founders were smart enough to realize that a government that could easily be disbanded is a perpetually weak one. The solutions to our problems exist within our Constitution: checks and balances, powers not delegated to the Federal Government being reserved to the States, the amendment process, the possibility of a Constitutional Convention, etc. It's high time we used them.
I think the founding fathers did a great job and can't find fault with the Constitution/Bill of Rights. The system worked very well and it's difficult to change it to prevent emotional changes rather than really sound changes.
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You run around with your blinders on pointing your finger at the other party when they are one in the same. And those like me who refuse to vote are the problem? 
I think not.
