World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[ZeroAX]

I think he posted it as a joke.

But to be honest when you don't have proportional representation and instead have a two-party winner takes all system, it does seem like an Oligarchy. You guys should REALLY change your form of government and that damn constitution....it's what....300 years old? Times change.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I think he posted it as a joke.

But to be honest when you don't have proportional representation and instead have a two-party winner takes all system, it does seem like an Oligarchy. You guys should REALLY change your form of government and that damn constitution....it's what....300 years old? Times change.

Looking back, I think you are correct. My bad.

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/blog-314 ... us-so.html

I just picked up the first item after seeing it on Gawker. If it's a joke it's because a joke. The whole system is a f***ing joke

[prfsnl_gmr]

I guess...

Looking at the study, it seems that its authors "discovered" the fact that the preferences of a wealthy, opinionated minority narrowly trump those of a generally apethetic majority. This is obvious to most people, and the preferences of vocal minorities typically prevail in most social settings. (Four people are going to a restaurant together. Three of them slightly prefer Restaurant A to Restaurant B. One of them detests Restaurant A, however, and will not go if the group chooses it. In this situation, the group will more than likely choose Restaurant B despite the fact that 75% of them prefer Restaurant A.)

Moreover - and also based on my very cursory review of the study - it appears that the vast, vast majority of variance in policy outcomes cannot be attributed to the preferences of my society's wealthiest citizens; so, the aticles histrionics regarding the collapse of American representative democracy might be a bit unjustified...

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957

Nobody's mentioned this leaked tape here methinks. LOL those bastards are straight out of In the Loop. They're all creeps, every last one of them, and the ordinary people of Ukraine will end up footing the bill either way.

[MrPopo]

I guess...

Looking at the study, it seems that its authors "discovered" the fact that the preferences of a wealthy, opinionated minority narrowly trump those of a generally apethetic majority.

Bolded the most important part. The US population is mostly apathetic towards politics; at best they have opinions but few care enough about those opinions to try and enact change.

[Fragems]

I'm just waiting for the Second American Revolution . Things are bound to go to shit eventually so I'm just enjoying the peace while it lasts.


Simplified List of Problems I Have With Our Government:
1.The population is being groomed to be more and more reliant on the government.

2. We are at the point that a good chunk of the systems used to run and regulate our country are overly complex or outdated. Instead of going about fixing and replacing these systems we pile new laws on top or exploit past loopholes to jury rig them into meeting our needs.

3. The expansion of taxes, government services, free trade, and international spending/borrowing has put us in a hell of a hole and it only seems to be getting deeper and deeper.


Fixing our problems would be a hell of a lot of work and would mean rough times for a solid decade or two at minimum. Good luck getting a politician to do anything that would possibly hurt their parties image or talking the population into giving up their comfy life style.

[Ack]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957

Nobody's mentioned this leaked tape here methinks. LOL those bastards are straight out of In the Loop. They're all creeps, every last one of them, and the ordinary people of Ukraine will end up footing the bill either way.

Eh, it's a big difference between interferring in a nation's politics(how much foreign funding do you think goes into one of our elections?) and intentionally manipulating them as a pretext for invasion, which is what everyone is concerned Russia is doing. Yes, we have intentionally installed political leaderships in a variety of nations, though even our worst "puppet" governments have been able to buck us. Look at the situation in Iraq or Karzai's terms in Afghanistan.

Also, why wouldn't it be in both the US' and Ukraine's best interest to ensure that all of the opposition parties are on friendly terms and united against Russian interference?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Simplified List of Problems I Have With Our Government:
1.The population is being groomed to be more and more reliant on the government.

The level of social services offered in our country is drastically lower than the level offered in other first world countries such as Canada, France, Sweden, etc. If we did not spend so much money on our military - and if we did not spend so much transferring money from the poorest segments of our society (i.e., youg wage earners) to the wealthiest (i.e., retirees) through social security - we could afford a lot sturdier social safety net (which, IMO, would benefit our economy and society immensely).

2. We are at the point that a good chunk of the systems used to run and regulate our country are overly complex or outdated. Instead of going about fixing and replacing these systems we pile new laws on top or exploit past loopholes to jury rig them into meeting our needs.

The law's complexity had been greatly exaggerated. While we certainly have not acheived complete regulatory efficiency, we do pretty well. Moreover, a lot of laws must be detailed and complex because they deal with difficult and complex systems.

3. The expansion of taxes, government services, free trade, and international spending/borrowing has put us in a hell of a hole and it only seems to be getting deeper and deeper.

Only a very small segment of our society has bourne the brunt of recent increases in marginal tax rates, and they remain much, much lower than they were in the mid 20th century. Likewise, social services provided through the government - such as welfare - have actually shrunk during the last 25 years and, IMO, should probably be expanded. Finally, trade deficits are the hallmark of a healthy economy. The fact that we import so many goods from abroad simply indicates that we are wealthy enough to do so.

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957

Nobody's mentioned this leaked tape here methinks. LOL those bastards are straight out of In the Loop. They're all creeps, every last one of them, and the ordinary people of Ukraine will end up footing the bill either way.

Eh, it's a big difference between interferring in a nation's politics(how much foreign funding do you think goes into one of our elections?) and intentionally manipulating them as a pretext for invasion, which is what everyone is concerned Russia is doing. Yes, we have intentionally installed political leaderships in a variety of nations, though even our worst "puppet" governments have been able to buck us. Look at the situation in Iraq or Karzai's terms in Afghanistan.

Also, why wouldn't it be in both the US' and Ukraine's best interest to ensure that all of the opposition parties are on friendly terms and united against Russian interference?

I don't know, things have escalated pretty badly this time around. Perhaps it was best just not to get involved in such a messy affair? Nato (eventually) delivered against the expansionist Serbs back in the 90s but an expansionist Russia is no joke.

And I don't know why these pro-Russkie men are called terroriztzz.. Call them insurgents, rebels, separatists, Ivans etc, but they haven't terrorised any civilians afaik