Silly analogy. If you don't get involved in some way -- and voting is the least, most basic thing one can do to get involved -- then you can't complain. Simple as that.
Not at all. If you willingly participate in the contest, then you have conceded that the contest is fair. As such, you must accept its result as fair. So if you vote, you can't complain.
When the entire system is rigged as it is, the only thing you can do and keep your honor is to abstain entirely.
Hmm. I didn't realize there were so many apathetic people on this board. Have fun with that future! Good luck with that! I hope your message board bitching gets you everything you ever wanted.
I'll be over here trying to make a difference where I can.
RadarScope1 wrote:Limewater, I can see your attitude is basically "RRRrraAGH RrrrrRRRah gubermint RRRarrRR" so I am reluctant to get into this but I will try to make this simple.
You're talking about fistfights.
I'm talking about voting and political participation.
That is not an apt comparison and you know it. I realize you're not the first person on the Internet to be intentionally disingenuous just for the sake of it, but come on now.
No, no, not at all. I am using analogies like fistfights and getting thrown out of a window because they are largely unambiguous. In general, people don't want to be punched in the face. In general, people don't want to be thrown out of a window.
If I start talking about chocolate versus vanilla or something, someone will just smile and say, "I like both! I don't mind the tyranny of the majority on this issue!"
Where exactly is the flaw in my reasoning? Your response seems to be summed up by, "You're silly."
RadarScope1 wrote:Hmm. I didn't realize there were so many apathetic people on this board. Have fun with that future! Good luck with that! I hope your message board bitching gets you everything you ever wanted.
I'll be over here trying to make a difference where I can.
I don't consider myself to be apathetic at all. I vote. I'm clearly just not voting hard enough!
Also, making it illegal for any Media related company to be funded or in any direct way tied to the government should be passed. Journalism fails us so hard these days.
A combination of these would be great imho
A government funded media/news corporation is a disservice to fair and balanced news. Period. You cannot have any resemblance of balanced news until both sides of an issue are raised and the VIEWER must make their own decision.
Critical thinking is a necessary skill most schools fail to help teach our children.
Thus, if we had a collective ounce of critical thinking skills in the whole bunch of us as Americans, I think we would be okay without an electoral college. We wouldn't need a group of people to interpret our votes. As it stands today, we technically don't have an individual say in our vote. It is not a direct election. Those representatives could throw our vote aside and choose who THEY want.
I'm sorry but I do not like that. And if people had more ability to decide for themselves, I too would be confident that such representative would not be needed.
Edit: I don't know what you meant by where we all live Limewater but I live in Western CT, if that is an issue somehow
And media funded by advertisers (ie: anyone with money enough to buy time) is a better solution? Journalism used to have some ideals, some integrity, almost all of it is now gone. Almost anyone could tell you that Fox News supports the conservative causes and CNN supports the liberal causes. There was a time when you couldn't peg a good media outlet as either, they simply reported the news instead of told you what to think about (their version) of the news. Oh Walter Kronkite we miss you!
Octopod:
If you don't think democracy is the way to go, what would you prefer? A dictatorship? A monarcy? Maybe you'd prefer pure anarchy?
Besides democracy, what other form of goverment can offer a method in which the people decide and have as much freedom as we enjoy (sometimes to our own detriment). If you don't participate, you are doomed to never get your own way. And to be real blunt, it has been a long time since I heard/read such ignorant statements as those that started this thread.
Limewater wrote:Your response seems to be summed up by, "You're silly."
And that's it, more or less.
Regardless of my language, I am presenting reasoning behind my positions. You're simply ignoring it under the guise of accusing me of trolling or something.
There have been several clear arguments presented on this thread stating the flaws of the idea you presented that "if you don't vote, you can't complain." I think at least three of us have pointed out why not voting gives one more right to complain. You have not given a single reason why your statement is true.
I asked "why?" and you did not respond. So I will ask again.
You said, "If you don't vote, you can't complain." Why? On what basis do you place that belief? Is it because it was told to you in school? I know I heard it plenty of times growing up.
I have already answered the question of what form of government I prefer in this thread. I guess you have not read the whole thread? That said I prefer a form of government where society as a whole is more important than the individual.
Also as someone who once upon a time had anarchist sympathies I think that the vast majority of people do not have even the slightest clue what the term anarchism means. I could be wrong though. It is hard to tell what people are trying to get across sometimes.
Last edited by Octopod on Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Octopod wrote:Do all of you ATL people know each other IRL? I always wonder that. lol
Fastbilly1 and Ack know each other in real life. I'm pretty sure one or both of them have met another local or two at cons. Other than that, I don't think any of us Atlanta folk know each other in real life.
