The USA is not a democracy

[Schahin]

So the title says it all.

Not that the european democracies are perfect. Not at all

Look at the current Genocide occuring in Gaza, a few european countries are blocking sanctions against Israel and therefore letting the genocide go on and on forever.

So I dont see any positives in european democracies anymore as they are not able to uphold basic human rights and human dignity and have themselves a direct connection to the misery that happens in many places around the world.

Now compare that low quality democracy that europe is having with the american which is in fact not even a democracy as since the beginning ot the nation only two parties have ruled the country, one diminishes the work of the other and its mostly about money. 

The electoral college system in the USA prohibits immensely the creation of a third party, because the party that has the majority of the votes in one state takes over the whole state, so the lower percentage of voters that casted their vote for a third party will be completely ignored. 

Therefore the parties don't receive a seat in congress or parliament and dont create coalitions between each other to represent the people, it wil alway be republican and democrats, if you hate both your opinion and vote has no count at all. 

You will be supposed to support one of the ever existing two parties, which is filled with purchased senators by various types of lobbies especially the AIPAC lobby.

Beside the fact that a third party will never have the chance to be created, the amounts of money that these two parties that always hate and oppose each other, spend in order to have big campaigns and to brainwash and manipulate the voters in all types of ways is absurd.

European countries spend a fraction of the campaign funds that these two american parties spend.

All in all the system in the USA can be rather described as a two party dictatorship, as the party that governs does not even have a coalition partner to team up with and adress the issues of the people, rather they only serve themselves and the lobbyists.

[DocWatts]

You might enjoy this SubStack article I wrote over the 4th of July called 'Death Throes Of The American Republic' which delves into this topic.

The tldr is that America began with the trappings of democracy, but only for a privileged few. It's only within the last 60 years, since the passage of the civil rights and voting rights acts, that we could be considered a full democracy in practice. 

The USA of today is what's known within political science as a flawed democracy  that's on its way to becoming a hybrid regime under Trump 2.0.

A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy - such as elections and a constitution - but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

Edited 23 hours ago by DocWatts

[Leo Gura]

There are many degrees of democracy and the standard we set for ourselves is a low degree.

It is convenient to regard democracy as a simple binary so that we can just say we have a democracy and not work towards a high degree of it.

America has performative democracy. This is perfect for the ruling class because it makes the masses feel like they live in a democracy but in practice it is an oligarchy.

Edited 22 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Karmadhi]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

America has performative democracy. This is perfect for the ruling class because it makes the masses feel like they live in a democracy but in practice it is an oligarchy.

Is that the default governance of a stage orange or is America the case of toxic orange?

Can you have a healthy orange democracy that is not an oligarchy or stage orange eventually by design will lead to an oligarchy?

[ryoko]

@Karmadhi Don't take Spiral Dynamics seriously. 

[Eskilon]

2 minutes ago, ryoko said:

Don't take Spiral Dynamics seriously. 

why not

[ryoko]

It's like trying to create a map for 4D in 1D. It's a really good 1D map though. Just know that it will never be enough. 

[Eskilon]

@ryoko No map, however elegant and complex is enough, the map is not the territory. That doesnt mean maps dont reveal truths about the world.

Edited 20 hours ago by Eskilon

[Jodistrict]

It’s interesting that the entire American government was hijacked by a billionaire real estate agent who perfected his human skills by creating an image of success and saying the right things to convince bankers to give him loans.   He correctly read the public’s frustration that they have no power – major decisions are made that they have no control over.  He diverts the frustration into a few scapegoats.  Additional diversion and irritation at the status quo is created by a mindless debate fueled by a corrupt media over whether a man should be allowed in a woman’s bathroom finally pushing normies over the edge.   Now there is rule by capriciousness with tariffs freaking out the rest of the world.  If the Federal Reserve becomes compromised it’s game over.   There is a silver lining here: the system is being exposed.

[ryoko]

48 minutes ago, Eskilon said:

@ryoko No map, however elegant and complex is enough, the map is not the territory. That doesnt mean maps dont reveal truths about the world.

That's where I disagree, human nature is not a mappable terrain. Hence 4D -> 1D, not 2D

Reveals truths, no, it's not revealing anything. It's giving categories to associate and project. It's reductionism at it's core. 

[LordFall]

Yes I think we're ran the course of the utility of representative democracy. Remember that this system was invented when your congressmen would ride on horses to get to parliament in a voyage of multiple weeks/month. Now we can have every single citizen vote on an issue and have it engraved in a blockchain for all of eternity within 24 hours.

The system needs immense change and it is coming soon my people, rejoice! 

[Hardkill]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

There are many degrees of democracy and the standard we set for ourselves is a low degree.

It is convenient to regard democracy as a simple binary so that we can just say we have a democracy and not work towards a high degree of it.

America has performative democracy. This is perfect for the ruling class because it makes the masses feel like they live in a democracy but in practice it is an oligarchy.

Sounds kinda like how Putin says that Russia has democracy even though we know that that's a lie.

[Ajay0]

Imho, the US has a parallel government or deep state in powerful plutocrats and stratocrats who formulate the policies for the elected democratic leaders to follow.

Disobedient ones will not be supported by them or even taken out.

A notable example is JFK opposing the sending of troops to Vietnam, as the Korean experience had resulted in a heavy defeat as well as heavy casualties of american troops, around 36000.

He however stood in the way of huge profits of the military-industrial complex by deciding against a war that could lead to similar disaster like the Korean war .

After Kennedy's mysterious and untimely death, his cautious policy was reversed and American troops were sent to Vietnam. The war ended in American defeat again as well as loss of 54000 American troops. However the military industrial complex made huge profits due to the huge budget allocations to it for more than a decade.

Kennedy's predecessor Eisenhower himself had warned in his speeches of the growing power of the military industrial complex cartels that can pose a danger to American democracy.

Edited 9 hours ago by Ajay0

[Schizophonia]

There will likely be around ten candidates in the next French elections, so the two candidates selected in the second round will receive around 20% of the vote.

The United States has two significant candidates with very similar programs.

So yes, it's basically a fake democracy.

[Jannes]

In germany we have many small parties and when they get 5% they are part of the Bundestag (place where political decisions are made). Everyone there has a degree of power. Either first in line in the coalition or second in line in the opposition. So most votes are represented even if you vote for a relatively small leftist party for example who still takes part as it gets over 5%.

In that regard germany has a pretty high degree of democracy. 

I love that concept of degrees of democracy. 

[Schizophonia]

18 minutes ago, Jannes said:

In germany we have many small parties and when they get 5% they are part of the Bundestag (place where political decisions are made). Everyone there has a degree of power. Either first in line in the coalition or second in line in the opposition. So most votes are represented even if you vote for a relatively small leftist party for example who still takes part as it gets over 5%.

In that regard germany has a pretty high degree of democracy. 

I love that concept of degrees of democracy. 

For who do you vote if you dont mind 

[Jannes]

19 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

For who do you vote if you dont mind 

I voted for the greens over the leftist party for one reason only, which was that the leftist party wanted to cut military budget which I think is a fairy dream with these geopolitical realities. 

[Schizophonia]

11 minutes ago, Jannes said:

I voted for the greens over the leftist party for one reason only, which was that the leftist party wanted to cut military budget which I think is a fairy dream with these geopolitical realities. 

I see