Democracy 101 (are we brainwashed automats?)

[JG26_EZ]

I'm from Canada if that matters (original post has asked)

Funny.. I was sitting at the breakfast table not ten minutes before I read this post, having a discussion/argument about this very topic. It's nice to be able to come here and see discussion on the topic, as I don't seem to be getting anywhere, over there at the table

I think there's a huge majority of people out there that haven't wrapped their heads around this one yet (including my other half), but I'm also a believer that in a solid "two weeks" the majority of people in the world will figure it out.

Not in my lifetime though.. imo.

ps.. A special thanks goes out to the internet btw. (golf clap)

[ATAG_Doc]

You are very wise in your youth.

[SlipBall]

Again a great post by nearmiss lost to those who unfortunately were too late to have read it...

[BadAim]

I hope your right, Slipball and I hope it helps. I hate to see the grand old lady fall from grace.

[arthursmedley]

BadAim, I'm confused m8! Are you in basic agreement with Prof Chomsky then?

[chantaje]

its great to read the different opinions. it give me (and anyone reading) a better perspective of the issue.

what i try to mean with long term democracys (its not the correct term) , is a sort of mature party sistem thats well stablished. not necesarly a bipartidism, but at least several parties sharing power trought time.

(if you are interested in a party sistem thats not well established you can check the political history of my country , of course this is my opinion, im not an history expert).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...983-Present.29

ps: i dont know why they delete posts. we are all discussing in a respectful way. bad moderators , different pov enrich the topic, well managed controversy is a great way to undesrstand others opinions.

hope you understand sorry for the bad english- S!

[Attila]

One of the oldest democracy on the world is in Switzerland! IMO it is the best system on the world! Each citizen of Switzerland has the right to vote, to vote on laws. Every citizen can collect signatures to start an initiative or a referendum! There are two parlaments, the Nationalrat and the Staenderat both are voted directly from the crowd! The government will be voted from the two parlaments and is build of seven ministers. Every year they change the president. IMO the only democracy that realy works on this planet!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland

[BadAim]

Originally Posted by arthursmedley

BadAim, I'm confused m8! Are you in basic agreement with Prof Chomsky then?

LOL, Arthur. That depends what you mean by agreement. Sociology is a difficult animal. On the political scale I come in about two degrees to the left of Genghis Khan, but in reality it makes little difference these days.

I know you a bit, and I believe that you and I are more of a like mind than either of us would rather admit. Our friendship notwithstanding.

The problem with self government is apathy. I think that most people don't give a crap about anything so long as they can do what they want. It's just reality. The friction comes in when people start giving a crap. The sad thing is that those who give a crap are often led astray by people who don't give a crap, but who pretend to give a crap in order to profit off those who actually give a crap (let's, for the sake of argument call these people, er.....say maybe, "politicians")

In the end the real lines should be drawn between the ones who don't give a crap and those who do. In the end it doesn't work out this way. The "politicians" get the people who give a crap arguing amongst themselves to the point where they forget what they were arguing about while the "politicians" reap the benefits and the whole rest of society pays the price.

In the end, I think that Chomsky was correct in that the majority is not fit to govern themselves. I disagree with the method of separating the wheat from the chaff. The difference comes in the philosophies of "education", and of "parenting", two institutions that have changed massively in the past decades.

I doubt that this answers any one's questions, let alone yours, Arthur, but it does give some indication about how I feel about the subject.

Edit: I can't believe I wrote "in the end" three times! In the end I'm just an idiot.