Why the US are not a true democracy

keeping their parties off the ballot is just one mechanism. others are denything them platforms in the media, tradtional and social. making it hard for them to get funds. there are lots of tricks developed over the years.

@m011235 said in #20:

I would dare to say the level of public distrust in the voting system and outcomes in ths US is unparalleled among developed nations.

On the other hands, other countries like France have far better voting systems, which does not necessarily mean they are more democratic, example the infamous 2005 referendum.

As always, I would expect the nordic countries to fare better. The Swiss also have a pretty strong voting cultures and many decisions are ratified by referendum I believe.
It's hard to compare countries with 7 million people to one the size and scope of the US though, Oregon has great democracy too - and is larger than some of those european countries

Sabine Hossenfelders take on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVqjH6MaqRY

@Cedur216 said in #1:

so this is why the US are officially not named a full democracy in the Economist's democracy index, they're rated 7.85/10 (a full democracy needs at least 8/10), and for me that's an overstatement, should be a 7/10 in my book

The USA is a representative republic. Never has been nor will it ever be a pure democracy.

democrats want America to become a pure democracy because then, mob rules

a whole lot of ignorance of the nature of US governance is on display in the responses to this topic

Actually, “Our government is a republic” is a tautology: those who utter this statement have managed to say nothing.

You will frequently hear people — often otherwise very perceptive people — claim, “The US is not a democracy, but a republic.” Next time you hear this, ask the wise sage who is speaking what exactly a “republic” is. Perhaps he will explain that republic is from the Latin res publica, i.e. government. Ask him to give you an example of a government which is not a republic. Perhaps he will come up with a monarchy. In this case, thank him politely for explaining that the US has no king. (Ideally without revealing that you already knew this.)

— Curtis Yarvin

In other words, they’re synonyms: republic just means government. ̄\_(ツ)_/ ̄

In fact “our” government is an oligarchy. Like the mythical socialist “utopia,” no “democracy” has ever really existed except on paper; in practice, our only choice is between various forms of -archy. Since I agree with Hobbes that anarchy (no goverment) is intolerable, I must concede that government is a necessary evil. However, I hold that the smaller the -archy, the less evil it is, by definition. And history bears this out, yielding manifold examples across continents and centuries.

When we adjust for the size of a nation, it quickly becomes clear that, by every objective measure — from GDPs to crime rates — monarchies outperform all other types of government. Of course it’s all relative; a biarchy is at least preferable to a triarchy, etc. But I’ll take Elizabethan England over the Soviet Union, any day. (I give those two examples as that pretty much covers the gamut.) Today, I’d pick Liechtenstein, Dubai and Singapore as coming closest to my ideal among extant countries. Adjusting for size, any one of them is easily superior to the US.

Also consider that every private business is already an ipso-facto monarchy, with a CEO at the top and a simple pyramid structure of command under him. If democracy actually worked, you’d expect to see it in the private sector; it doesn’t, hence you don’t. ̄\_(ツ)_/ ̄ But at the end of the day, a government IS just a (real-estate-protection) business, whether we call it that or not. Why have a large and inefficient “rotating management structure” for your sovereign capital investment firm, when you could have a small and efficient one instead?

Or just look at it this way: One ruler, no matter how greedy he is, will never fish the lake dry. Whereas a hundred bureaucrats, each competing over his share of that lake, will not only deplete it of fish, but litter their empty beer cans in it too. ;-( So even a bad monarch is the lesser evil compared to any of the alternatives. (Selah.)

Cf. https://unherd.com/2022/08/only-a-monarch-can-control-the-elites

@salmon_rushdie , in his #17, disagrees with some of my views. But he has taken time and made some effort to state his opinions well, in his own words, and with civility.

In short, he provided us with yet another excellent example (he's done this before) of how to discuss issues like a rational adult, striving to arrive at truth and not merely win an argument or intimidate into silence any who disagree.

You'll notice that he and I are not calling each other names. The word "fascist" wasn't used. Neither of us claimed that democracy would end if the other's views were given a hearing.

Conscientious, earnest discussion is how disagreements are best handled -- rather than by insulting, demeaning or trying to inspire a horror for the future.

My hope for the future is preserved, and deservedly so: after all, in this forum we see plenty of examples of civil, rational, articulate people who, though they don't always agree, manage to keep their perspective and their sense of humor, and allow for the dignity of others, even if they disagree.

Hats off to @salmonrushdie and the other excellent, interested posters in this forum. During a sometimes-heated election season, they provide attitudes and approaches to emulate.

The others know who they are; I need not name them.

Noble @pawnedge seems to know of the glory of Victoria.

So did Winston Churchill.

So should we all.

Britain has had some stellar queens.

But, in my humble opinion, the United States should not follow suit in the next two days. Indeed, it cannot. Tulsi Gabbard's time has not yet come.

But don't despair. All good things come with time and patience.

Now THERE'S a first female president who ALL should and could accept with honor and relief.

@bfchessguy said in #3:

May I suggest spidersneedMSG or spidersneedjanuary6th ?

@spiderneedstheconstitution