Merv's Politically Incorrect Audio Blog

None of the above apply to me, but if people want to argue, be confrontational, they probably get what they deserve. Minding one's own business is an art in itself.

 

Seems to me your (and increasingly our) entire system of government is completely based on being confrontational, that was the point of my original post. Good on you if you can tune it all out though. At least music helps and has not been banned anywhere.

 

Okay, this is what I mean when I say I think you’re substituting what I’m actually saying for what you want me to have said and responding to that instead. Let’s recap:

I replied to @Bowmoreman saying that he mischaracterized anarchy as chaos, which it isn’t.

I also took exception to him equating direct democracy with mob rule.

I pointed out how people who decry our current system often have no alternative vision, just more of the same but with less regulation.

Finally I also pointed out that Portland does not and did not have any autonomous zones.

Your responses have been about New Hampshire, Florida and Texas, Portland crime rates, and quality of life. We’re literally having two different conversations. You’re also accusing me of groupthink because…reasons? You are responding to things I did not say and acting like I said them.

I was referring to actual direct democracy. I do understand the argument is that the majority can simply outvote a minority, which is why safeguards would need to be in place, just like any system because there is no perfect system of governance.

The issue with representative democracy is that it’s very easy to override the will of the people. We’ve had multiple presidents who didn’t win the popular vote. We have representatives who put corporate interests above the interests of their constituents. Career politicians who learn how to game the system for their own gain, etc. we have an entire party dedicated to blocking governance by the other party. We have federal judges up to and including SCOTUS justices making sweeping law binding changes to our society in a manner that is directly opposed to the will of the majority because they were installed by a president who lost the popular vote but won the undemocratic electoral college. Direct democracy wouldn’t be a panacea but it would give more power directly to the people.

As for the attention span, that is why I made the comment about the system needing high civic engagement. And again, I fully agree that it wouldn’t be perfect. Just less imperfect than what we have now.

 

Indeed stupid laws cannot change any of those things. They can ruin your life though.

 

Only yourself can change your life or ruin your life.

 

Indeed you can follow the law or risk prison. Which is why I prefer places where I least have to make such choices.

 

You cannot imagine even a single scenario where someone’s life is ruined not through their own actions?

 

I consider Vancouver BC my hometown, have family in or have lived in Calgary, Edmonton, Ft McMurray, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, and Toronto, I have a pretty good understanding what kind of choice or lack of, there is in Canada. In the states I have lived in Seattle, Northern California, SoCal, Montana, and North Dakota, not to mention the places I have traveled to for vacation, and work in North America.

 

So you should know it is all a compromise, that was my only point. Find the one that works best for you. Bonus points if you find perfection or simply don't care. For me it is always going to be the compromise.

 

something that's funny to me is the dislike carpet bombing in this thread. it is truly the signal buried in the noise.

 

I actually appreciate the reasonably respectful debate here. It is better than many places, but I also totally agree why Marv keeps the focus on audio, where it should be.

 

I didn't quite mean that - sure the temperature never really gets above a high simmer, but (keeping with the poor cooking simile) it's obvious via the "reasoned and proportionate" dispensing of dislikes, of who's (whose?) kitchen i perceive to actually be a dumpster fire masquerading as Wolf cooktop. eerrrr something... mis-en-place!!

 

I would love to hear how we could possibly put safeguards in place where the minority could overrule the majority... without introducing the same type of regulators/overseers/career representatives that would be similar to corruption that we have now. And what does the majority do when they get overridden? The same bad shite would go down as would happen when the minority get outvoted all the time.

and? I suspect many countries have leaders that did not win (edit)a majority in(edit) the popular vote (due purely to the number of parties involved). The fact that we have only 2 real parties doesn't change the fact that what we have now is sound. The last thing we need is small, densely populated areas completely controlling the governance of the country (although, we almost have that now). So we have 5 states vote 90% one way and the other 45 states vote 55% the other way? (I'm exaggerating to make a point) I don't see a problem with the non-popular vote winner not winning the election in that case.

I guess you trust "the people" to make intelligent decisions for the good of everyone way more than I do...

I understood your statement, but I prefer to deal in reality. High civic engagement is a thing in the distant past.

The only way I could see something like true direct democracy work is if the current system of government, regulation, infrastructure, laws, etc were completely blown up. There is too much and it would be more than a full time job for every citizen to become well enough informed to make good decisions.

If you're saying you'd like to see binding ballot initiatives for certain things on a state or federal level, then fine. But to actually run a country of this size, reach, and global importance (not trying to sound arrogant in making that statement)... direct democracy just isn't feasible.

A representative republic is the best system for a country like ours, but it needs to have term limits (2 terms max for senators) and the house needs 2 longer terms, so they're not immediately thinking about and pandering/buying public votes for the next election.

We need to ruthlessly eliminate lobbying and special interests. We need to figure out a way to reduce the impact of special interests on the media and reporting. And we need to reduce the size/scope of federal government to something manageable so that our representatives can actually read/understand/debate the merits of what they are voting for or against. (I know, now I'm not dealing in reality)
---edit for clarity---

 

Or follow the law and still end up in prison

 

Marv should change the rules so politics stories have to mix with audio stories.

 

I think I understand what you mean. Basically you are responsible for your life and you need to get going and not rely on others to look after you and I agree with the basic concept. Europeans probably are used to rely on the government to provide for them too much. On the other hand just yesterday a guy (he hails from Russia) I meet regularly in the sports club showed me a viedo, it was shot during the funeral of his brother's grandson. His Grand nephew left Russia five years ago and went to Israel, he was a tank commander and was killed at the age of 21, it left me speechless and it is a reminder that the concept that one is 100 % the master of one's destiny does not always apply.

Shalom

 

With space and time, we can learn how to react. Everything else is contingency.

 

But when someone complains non-stop for years about politics, their job, their life, etc. It gets to the point that you must stop looking at yourself as a victim and learn to control what you can control.

I'm in my 30s per my profile, I know plenty of friends from colleges who still bitch about the same items above when they were only 18. As they mostly said, I got my life together. We can complain about life, the state we live in, the politics, why we don't earn enough, etc. But at the end of the day: Life Goes On.

Also, our Life is Short. Using the majority of our life to bitch about politics is just sad.