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HappySqurriel on 08 August 2009
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Rath said:
HappySqurriel said:
Rath said:
HappySqurriel said:
Rath said:
Obama is liberal by UK standards (still not liberal compared to many continental countries it must be said) but the republican party is just so scarily right.

I don't know of many Western countries with a political divide quite as wide as America.

What is so scary about the Republican party that could not be balanced out by an equally scary position by the Democrat party?

Well I'm sure the evangelical right do see the Democrats positions as largely scary - things like pro-choice and gay rights probably do scare them - however of course to me (a moderate liberal, at least in my country) the Democrats aren't scary at all, more like moderates.

Scarily right-wing however is in comparison to the governments of the majority of Western countries, there aren't that many major political parties in the Western world that are as right wing as the Republican party.

If you give the government the power to give you something you also give the government the power to take it away from you ...

If the explosive growth of the role of the government in your life doesn't scare you then you're a fool.

That is an extremely flawed reply to my post. Firstly a shift towards the left doesn't nessecarily mean bigger government - legalising abortion and gay marriage is a shift to the left but it doesn't make the government any bigger.

Secondly your first statement is extremely ambigious, what does 'the power to take it away from you' actually mean? If the government gives you universal healthcare the have the ability to take it away? Then we end up in exactly the same position we are now!

Thirdly it doesn't take into account the fact that in almost all Western countries the government is limited in power hugely by the people, if they do 'take it away' then vote against them next time around. The definition of a democracy (or at least my favourite one) is the ability for the people to change government on a whim.

Your second statement is just a baseless assertion and an insult.

 

Edit: And now you're appealing to fear. Baseless fear at that. Can you post evidence of the speed at which the government is expanding in Obama's term and proof that expansion of the government leads to dictatorships?

 

 

Consider the Canadian example of a government giving you Universal Health Care ...

In Canada we have universal health care and there is absolutely no way to get healthcare outside of the public system, and it is illegal for doctors to set up clinics to treat patients outside of the public system. Now, the combination of governments (wisely) trying to be fiscally responsible and the growing costs of healthcare access to healthcare gets worse every year; and at the current rate access is deteriorating Canadians will have no access to healthcare in a decade or two. Being in a system where healthcare is expensive is far preferable to being in a healthcare system where there is no access to healthcare ... 

The governments of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy was "Limited in power" by the people until charismatic leaders used their political popularity to take those rights away from the people. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were celebrated and loved by their people and idolized by the progressive movement throughout most of the western world until after World War II when it became evident how evil and corrupt these regimes were. Even Hugo Chavez in Venezuela initially needed the support of the people, but because people allowed him to take their rights away from them he now doesn't need their support.