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Republicans, What Will Satisfy You?

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  • #91
    Originally posted by Starlight View Post
    Of course I blame you, your views are your own personal responsibility. If you choose to believe and repeat what some other idiot says, that's on you.

    In the rest of your post you've found a whiny article about someone's dislike of government policy. Yawn.
    Yup, I choose to believe a person about what's going on in Australia who actually lives in Australia over a know-it-all blowhard New Zealander who gives his opinion about what's going on in Australia from the outside. Imagine that, profound I know.

    Comment


    • #92
      Originally posted by seanD View Post
      Being an admitted socialist, and even sympathetic to communism (to my understanding), you naturally have a skewed view about what is free and democratic.
      You apparently don't know what 'socialism' or even 'communism' is. Here's a hint: neither are governmental systems. Both are economic systems. Neither have anything to do with whether not a country is free or democratic. The claim that someone who is a socialist has a "skewed view about what is free and democratic" is idiotic.

      Originally posted by seanD View Post
      I'm sure you detest our Constitution for that reason, so you're really in no position to dictate to us about what is free and democratic
      Completely unsupported.

      Originally posted by seanD View Post
      without me assuming it's a very skewed left leaning bias as well as any sources you cite in your favor.
      Once again completely unsupported.

      Originally posted by seanD View Post
      And don't blame me for those views about Australia and their draconian mandates, because I was citing Janet Albrechtsen who lives in Australia (for some reason the link won't work so I'll have to post the whole article). Those were her views.
      The views of one person in an opinion piece. And on that you're happy to characterise the entire country as having "always been a soft totalitarian state" despite what an Australian and a Kiwi with family there tell you about the country. Since it's "always been" what you claim, I suppose you know a great deal about Australia's governmental history?

      Not to mention that your cited article is about Victoria, one state in the country. It only mentions one other state, and that briefly, to favourably compare it to Victoria. To claim Australia "a soft totalitarian state" based on this one article is truly ridiculous.

      Gee that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the wingnut's piece supports your nonsensical opinion, would it?
      Last edited by Electric Skeptic; 11-21-2020, 06:48 PM.
      America - too good to let the conservatives drag it back to 1950.

      Comment


      • #93
        Originally posted by Starlight View Post
        Of course I blame you, your views are your own personal responsibility. If you choose to believe and repeat what some other idiot says, that's on you.

        In the rest of your post you've found a whiny article about someone's dislike of government policy. Yawn.
        Note: the goverment policy of ONE state. Not the whole country; just one state.
        America - too good to let the conservatives drag it back to 1950.

        Comment


        • #94
          Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
          If precisely the same system of government were adopted in some other place, it woudn't magically become America. There's no getting around that.
          Plenty of other countries historically copied the US system of government and constitution. It was very popular in Latin America especially.

          Every single one of the countries that had copied the US constitution eventually collapsed into dictatorship.

          The consensus of political scientists and historians as to the causes of its failure in those countries point to two crucial things:

          1. Presidential systems give too much power to one person, which allows a relatively easy transition to a dictatorship if that person is so inclined. (In parliamentary systems by contrast the power is more distributed among multiple elected politicians)

          2. The populace is not tolerant of governmental grid-lock. If the President steps up to resolve existing grid-lock via becoming a dictator, the populace will side with him. (In 1-house parliamentary systems by contrast there is very rarely any form of grid-lock at all)

          For these reasons, today, the Canadian constitution is popular for copying in the present day and the US constitution is never copied.
          Last edited by Starlight; 11-21-2020, 06:51 PM.
          "I hate him passionately", he's "a demonic force" - Tucker Carlson, in private, on Donald Trump
          "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism" - George Orwell
          "[Capitalism] as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy" - Albert Einstein

          Comment


          • #95
            Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
            You apparently don't know what 'socialism' or even 'communism' is. Here's a hint: neither are governmental systems. Both are economic systems. Neither have anything to do with whether not a country is free or democratic. The claim that someone who is a socialist has a "skewed view about what is free and democratic" is idiotic.


            Completely unsupported.


            Once again completely unsupported.


            The views of one person in an opinion piece. And on that you're happy to characterise the entire country as having "always been a soft totalitarian state" despite what an Australian and a Kiwi with family there tell you about the country. Since it's "always been" what you claim, I suppose you know a great deal about Australia's governmental history?

            Not to mention that your cited article is about Victoria, one state in the country. It only mentions one other state, and that briefly, to favourably compare it to Victoria. To claim Australia "a soft totalitarian state" based on this one article is truly ridiculous.

            Gee that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the wingnut's piece supports your nonsensical opinion, would it?
            Why are you arguing for SL. I'm sure he's capable of that. If you're going to troll, at least troll with posts that are responses to you.

            Comment


            • #96
              Originally posted by seanD View Post

              Why are you arguing for SL. I'm sure he's capable of that. If you're going to troll, at least troll with posts that are responses to you.
              And you don't know what 'troll' means, either.

              Mind you, if I'd made statements as idiotic as some of yours in this conversation, I might try to divert it by attacking others instead of defending my nonsense, too.
              America - too good to let the conservatives drag it back to 1950.

              Comment


              • #97
                Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                And you don't know what 'troll' means, either.

                Mind you, if I'd made statements as idiotic as some of yours in this conversation, I might try to divert it by attacking others instead of defending my nonsense, too.
                And this coming from the troll that incessantly whines in here about personal attacks.

                Comment


                • #98
                  Originally posted by seanD View Post

                  And this coming from the troll that incessantly whines in here about personal attacks.
                  So you've now abandoned any effort to actually defend your nonsense and decided to just attack me, instead?

                  And you still don't know what 'troll' means.
                  America - too good to let the conservatives drag it back to 1950.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                    So you've now abandoned any effort to actually defend your nonsense and decided to just attack me, instead?

                    And you still don't know what 'troll' means.
                    I've defended it. You were doing fine up to post #92. When the posts start getting fragmented and the ideas expressed incoherent I usually bow out, especially when I'm dealing with as obvious a troll as you.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by seanD View Post
                      I've defended it. You were doing fine up to post #92.
                      You haven't defended anything. You've come up with some bogus (and laughable) reasons to ignore evidence against your claim - simply because the evidence is against your claim. And you've provided precisely zero evidence to support anything.

                      Originally posted by seanD View Post
                      When the posts start getting fragmented and the ideas expressed incoherent I usually bow out, especially when I'm dealing with as obvious a troll as you.
                      You mean you usually bow out about now, when you've been soundly beaten. Now all you have left is to insult me (and show you still don't know what 'troll' means).

                      But as you go, let's relive that great moment...when you claimed that Australia "has always been a soft totalitarian state" on the strength of ONE article by ONE person which actually criticised ONE premier of ONE state of Australia. That was truly epic.
                      America - too good to let the conservatives drag it back to 1950.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                        And claiming Australia to be a "soft totalitarian state" is just idiotic.
                        Aboriginal Australians could perhaps legitimately make that claim, or even a stronger one, about the history of Australia. But then, in the US, so could Native Americans and the Black descendants of slaves.

                        I lived there for nearly 50 years; it's a democracy.
                        If the measurement of democracy is "Prime Ministers per decade", then in the last decade it's perhaps been the single most democratic country in the world.

                        Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                        let's relive that great moment...when [Sean] claimed that Australia "has always been a soft totalitarian state" on the strength of ONE article by ONE person which actually criticised ONE premier of ONE state of Australia. That was truly epic.
                        Surely if one person gets angry and writes one article about one state government politician, that must mean the entire country was totalitarian for all of its history! The logic is obvious.

                        After all, in the US, no journalist would ever write an article about one state government politician doing something they didn't like... ...would they?
                        Last edited by Starlight; 11-21-2020, 08:21 PM.
                        "I hate him passionately", he's "a demonic force" - Tucker Carlson, in private, on Donald Trump
                        "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism" - George Orwell
                        "[Capitalism] as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy" - Albert Einstein

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Gondwanaland View Post

                          That's Cocaine Mitch to you, Kiwi. Keep on bowing to that queen
                          Better than the Orange Idiot.
                          "Obama is not a brown-skinned, anti-war socialist who gives away free healthcare. You are thinking of Jesus." Episcopal Bishop of Arizona

                          I remember WinAce. Gone but not forgotten.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                            You haven't defended anything. You've come up with some bogus (and laughable) reasons to ignore evidence against your claim - simply because the evidence is against your claim. And you've provided precisely zero evidence to support anything.


                            You mean you usually bow out about now, when you've been soundly beaten. Now all you have left is to insult me (and show you still don't know what 'troll' means).

                            But as you go, let's relive that great moment...when you claimed that Australia "has always been a soft totalitarian state" on the strength of ONE article by ONE person which actually criticised ONE premier of ONE state of Australia. That was truly epic.
                            Correction: it was an Australian from Australia speaking about her own country, as opposed to a couple of blowhards with liberal biases making assumptions and guesses about what's happening there from outside. Yup, pretty epic.

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Electric Skeptic View Post
                              I appreciate your thoughts as to how to make future elections more secure, but I'm specifically addressing the election we just went through. What would have to happen in order for you to accept the results as fair and honest and Biden as the legitimate President?
                              That's like a Russian gymnast asking an olympic official what it's going to take for the commitee to let him keep his gold medal. How about rewinding time and not commit fraud again.

                              Comment


                              • Article today about some polling in New Zealand, relevant to this thread:

                                Survey: New Zealanders want parliamentary term increased

                                New Zealanders want the parliamentary term increased from three to four years and 90 percent of them have full trust and confidence in the democratic process.

                                Research NZ Partner Emanuel Kalafatelis said it was after the US election that they decided to seek the opinion of New Zealanders on how our democratic processes line up with those around the world.

                                He said the vast majority of New Zealanders do have confidence in the country's democratic system.

                                "We got 90 percent and that is significantly higher than the level of opinion with regard to the democratic processes of Australia, 66 [percent], the United Kingdom at 55, the US at 23 and Hong Kong - less than 10, specifically 8 percent."

                                Kalafatelis said 61 percent of people wanted the parliamentary term to be increased from three years to four.

                                Is the world's "objectively" greatest democracy one where 90% of the populace report full trust and confidence in the democratic process, or one where only 23% of the populace do?
                                "I hate him passionately", he's "a demonic force" - Tucker Carlson, in private, on Donald Trump
                                "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism" - George Orwell
                                "[Capitalism] as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evils. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy" - Albert Einstein

                                Comment

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