ArnoldRimmer said:
But show me a single country above statement does not apply to. The only country in this world that I am aware which I'd seriously call a "democracy" is Switzerland. But even they have the party rivalries that are so typical for representative party (=fake) democracies. |
I can only speak for my own country. And here politics do not have the same attention as other entertainment and as such have not been degraded into the same circus like in the US. Politics here is boring, mostly because it's actually politics and also because we rarely elect clowns that make outrageous statements on a daily basis. Parties act upon their conscience and policy and not because they desperately need to win the next election. There are no hardened rivalries because the goal is driven by policies and not elections. Attack ads are unthinkable and banned anyway. For the past 8 years the two biggest parties in Germany have governed as one.
Politics in Germany is boring. It's boring because it functions exactly as what it's supposed to. Politics. And actual politics are boring, as they should be. Because when they're boring it means they're not doing stupid outrageous shit.
So please don't even try to remotely compare our democracy with the corporation owned circus that happens in the US. Sure, no democracy is perfect but what we have here is pretty much as close as it gets.
StarOcean said:
What would allow a 3rd party then? I mean, I suppose even a President couldnt do it cause Congress would block it. So itd have to be Congress. If enough people rallied would there be a chance for one? Even thats low. Nothing short of a revolution could get us one, huh? |
Yes. Nothing short of a revolution will help the US fix what's wrong with society and politics. It's not enough to change policy. You need to change the way people think about policy.
I read a recent article about Bernie's proposed single payer healthcare, i.e. the only correct way to do healthcare. It stated that it was most likely not possible to implement it right away because people and politicians need to be slowly convinced about it. So you would have to take one or more steps in between to arrive there. But that is already deemed to fail because a partial implementation of it would be quite sub optimal and leave people with a bad taste in their mouth, which would lead to not even attempting the actual plan. But proper healthcare cannot work if you don't go full hog right away. So it's pretty much doomed. Health care cannot be changed if you don't change how people think about it. Socialism is one thing that makes it so comfortable to live in European countries. In the US it has a completely negative connotation. That will have to change before you can even attempt policy.
Another example would be gun control. In the current climate it is simply impossible to enact a full gun ban for civil use(except sports). So you would have to introduce it gradually. But if you do it gradually you will not see any results, which will just give more fuel to gun activists. It's not just the ban on guns that makes other countries so safe. It's the way people think of guns. It's not a status symbol or a precious symbol of freedom. It's not presented as the only thing to protect yourself and your family. It's simply treated at what it is, a tool for killing, a last resort. In the US it's the former and unless you change how people think about guns you cannot even attempt to apply policy.
Of course things like these can happen gradually over time but in the US you have very active counter forces that will suppress even gradual change. So no, there isn't really much hope. Something big has to happen for people to change.
Germany has been a nation of war once and then became one of the most peaceful nations on earth, but only due to the trauma of war.
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