the thing hat bothers me the most is that the one with the biggest amount of money wins the elections, that is just stupid...

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Alsof Het G*dverdomme Himmel Niks Kost!!!

I agree to an extent, but Bedrock, I don't think this post is appropriate as it's only purpose is an all out bashing of America. Yes, I know we are the most hated country in the world, but still, attack us with some amount of subtlety and niceness. I mean, I can't exactly say "If youd don't like it, leave" Cus you are not here in the first place. But I, as a rather proud American, am not the all knowing master of the govt. in Perth, therefore I do not speak on it. And I assume you, as you stated nothing but speculations, are not the master of the American govt, therefore I do wish you would come at us with some amount of detail, if for no other reason so that we may have something to defend ourselves against.

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"Oh NO! It seems the world has been infected by a disease called shitty music.
We've had innocculations for some time now but the populace keeps refusing it.
You don't want it? Fine. Give me all the vaccine and a needle and I'll fucking overdose.
It'll be the best day of my life."

ya other the electoral system, which has its decent arguements for and only applies to presidential voting, how exactly is america not a democracy? on voting day (two days ago) you cast your vote for your state senator and local representative, and the nominee with the highest votes wins... seems democratic to me?

about the one who spends the most money wins, why do you even throw out such bull crap? in texas two days ago we elected a governer, texans had to vote for one of two (or cast a white ballot), the winner in our case was the one who spent less, imo becuase he had the better agenda. do you think that the president who spends the most money wins? no at that level especially everyone knows the candidates and his view points on isses.
sure having more money to 'advertise' yourself helps, but should we really limit how much I spend of MY money to help me win a elections race, after all it is MY money so why should i not be able to use it.

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If God is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question.

^^^To say that money is not factored into elections is ludacris, not to mention ignorant. But I do agree with Izzy to an extent. We do get to choose who we vote for. 90% of the time there is very little politics involved with who wins(other than voting, I mean) And 90% is pretty good. I'd like to see how often elections get fucked up and the people don't know it in other countries. lol.

Bedrock, your ideas about America represent why we are so hated. People from other countries assume things about our govt. Well, don't assume. Unless you know everythijng about a topic, don't bash it. It saves you face later

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"Oh NO! It seems the world has been infected by a disease called shitty music.
We've had innocculations for some time now but the populace keeps refusing it.
You don't want it? Fine. Give me all the vaccine and a needle and I'll fucking overdose.
It'll be the best day of my life."

quote:

Originally posted by SpykeChyld ^^^To say that money is not factored into elections is ludacris, not to mention ignorant. But I do agree with Izzy to an extent. We do get to choose who we vote for. 90% of the time there is very little politics involved with who wins(other than voting, I mean) And 90% is pretty good. I'd like to see how often elections get fucked up and the people don't know it in other countries. lol. Bedrock, your ideas about America represent why we are so hated. People from other countries assume things about our govt. Well, don't assume. Unless you know everythijng about a topic, don't bash it. It saves you face later

ahh America, where ludicrous is spelled like the rapper!

basically what we have here, is someone who isnt an american speaking pure conjecture about something they have no immediate knowledge in. Americans may seem apathetic due to the lack of a social voting system and other things, but that doesnt mean only 20% of the population understands the system.

other countries think that the President is the word and the light in the US, and as Izzy pointed out, we concern ourselves more with our local leaders, so you all hear nothing of our real concerns and understandings.

yah, i have to agree that this is yet another thinly veiled 'bash America' thread, cause if you wanted to discuss such a topic there are many more countries where the voting/election process and basic government processes arent just unknown by the general population, but hidden from them. late|

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'That's like telling a Kodiak bear to stop fcking older men.'

Like Iraq?

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"Oh NO! It seems the world has been infected by a disease called shitty music.
We've had innocculations for some time now but the populace keeps refusing it.
You don't want it? Fine. Give me all the vaccine and a needle and I'll fucking overdose.
It'll be the best day of my life."

Oh, and my bad on the ludicrous spelling. Damn pop culture. I know how to spell that too, lol.

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"Oh NO! It seems the world has been infected by a disease called shitty music.
We've had innocculations for some time now but the populace keeps refusing it.
You don't want it? Fine. Give me all the vaccine and a needle and I'll fucking overdose.
It'll be the best day of my life."

Stirring controversy again Bedrock?

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http://eschatonnow.blogspot.com/

Do as I say, not as I do.

I have to disagree with posters who think that a criticism of the American Democracy is only an implied bash on the country, or that a debate on it somehow isn't a worthy subject.

American elections *are* heavily based on advertising and such. I'm willing to bet that less than 50% of the sub 50% of the voting age population that actually bothers to head to the polls has never actually set down with even a newspaper article on each of the candidates, proposals, and what-not, thought it through, and *then* went out to vote.

And, IMHO, an uninformed democracy is hardly a democracy at all.

An example from my life for instance, and a refutation to people who'd say that ignorance is all right, because you can pretty much tell what people think based on their party affiliation:

I live in a conservative district in SW Michigan, and as such, I was horrified to read the stances of both our House of Representative candidates, one a Democrat, and other a Republican, and found that both were ardently pro-life, and both were against further taxation for programs.

Similarities continued in their stances on education financing, war, and a whole host of other things.

An uninformed voter probably would have just gone party lines, I did the right thing for my views, and declined to vote for either of the rat bastards.

Too many people just blindly assume that each party has certain views as "givens", and that there's no need to actually look at the individual candidates.

Too many people just go along with whatever the television ads say, and never actually look into things beyond that.

And I think too many people think both parties suck, but decline to go out and vote Green, or a third party in line with *their* way of thinking, like I consistently do.

If more of the dissatisfied voters would just get off their keisters and voted for a third party, it'd *at least* keep the majors on their toes, and partially honest to their supposed principals.

That or add the "None of the Above" line to every race, as Michael Moore (or was it Jello Biafra?) has suggested, and bar people from running for that office again in the re-vote if they lose to it

Additionally, I think we'd do well to enact some sort of rules against mud slinging in campaigns, like they have in many, many other democracies, many of them fledgling in comparison to the States. I think it's ridiculous, and base, that candidates can be elected on making a scandal out of God knows what that happened x number of years ago.

It reflects poorly on the country IMHO.

I think criticism on the States elections are well-founded, because, unlike a screwed up system in a small sub-saharan Afrikan country, the results of elections in the States usually have global implications.

Other people don't have a right to vote in our elections, but I definitely think they have a right to comment, criticise, and consider what we're doing wrong.

It's not as though the US is some island in the middle of the pacific with no weapons or standing army you know...

quote:

Originally posted by Bedrock its really disgusting to see that the 'worlds greatest example of a democracy' doesn't even have a political system or process that is understood by more than 20% of the country's population. Not only that but the system is based on capitalism and not democracy, it is quite pathetic really. I find it ironic that American foreign policy dictates the way in which 'democracy' should be upheld in other countries, when in fact the democratic processes and systems (by means I'm referring to the appointment and elections to Congress & the Senate) in America itself is superficial and misleading...

yes and i'm sure no politician from australia has ever made a political decision based on their own interests or economic gain...

this is not US-specific, happens everywhere. There is no "perfect system"... and how is our appointments and elections superficial and misleading? i'd like to hear an example...

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Peace.