The reality is that the way the current constitution is written, any kind of significant change requires a super majority to get along for long enough time to pass amendments. We’re talking years of cooperation and compromise which I’m unsure most folks can do even on things which poll in that range such as gun control. I wish it was possible to avoid the failed state position but I don’t know how that would happen. The capital owning class has rotted out the process of political compromise and civic participation to the point that you can’t even get folks to support public transit projects and the like.
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Yes - setting aside angels on the head of a pin about whether the current electoral/representation system in the US is democratic, a free press is a pre-requisite for a transparent democracy. The US does not have a free press, it has a capitalist press motivated by self-interest, backed up by huge quantities of money spent to propagate falsehoods across any medium available. The age of social media demands a compete rethink of what a free press is and how media can serve the interests of democracy rather than their capitalist owners. Taking money out of the democratic/electoral system would be a small start.
Exactly!
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Apt typo. 
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Maybe not, but the prof always got a laugh out of us over it. No offensive, I love Canadians… you keep sending us your best… mostly. 
But I seriously do think that our collective welfare are pretty tightly interconnected, which makes things difficult when one of us has some real issues happening.
I know. it doesn’t make major structural changes easy, and tends to only happen with great pressure - which is both good and bad. You don’t want to change things on a whim, but sometimes, you need to change things.
I think more of us need to understand that good governance in a democracy demands our active participation. Part of the problem is that we’re all stuck in this post-Nixonian anti-government mindset, where it’s something that happens to us rather than something that can happen with our active participation. Government by the people for the people, etc. The less we’re all involved, the easier it is for corporations and bad actors to use the power of government for themselves. The current state of affairs was certainly in part due to corporations hijacking a lot, but our own cynicism since the Nixon era has contributed to that as well.
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Oh, 100%. Some Canadians like to get smug when America has problems, but I think most of us recognize how bad it would be for everyone if America goes (farther) down a dark path. We are each others’ biggest trading partners, for starters. Our economies are very tightly linked and something as dramatic as a civil war in the US would be very very bad for Canada as well. Even a Troubles-type thing (which I think is much more likely) would be awful. Travel would become restricted, there’d likely be a recession (or worse) and a lot of us have families on both sides of the border who would be hurt.
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As someone for years wanted the private market solution, I have come to realize they will never and we should give up on that pipe dream. Nor is the concept of millions of Americans with no healthcare tenable.
The problem with some libertarians, and why I no long identify as such, is while they are so concentrated on the government limiting their liberty, they either ignore, or are blind to, private companies limiting their liberty. Usually while grumbling about the bullshit private companies have put them through.
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I remember vividly, being a politically aware GenXer even back then.
This is why I see this scenario for the US. We are all intermingled, there are few clear cut geographic boundaries to categorize people - other than obvious physical markers (racial/ethnic/ or LGBTQ+) to start with - followed closely by ideological “purity” tests and other assorted arbitrary loyalty bullshit.
Having grown up in North Texas, none of the stuff going on with the GOP is surprising to me at all. It’s been brewing for decades.
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Quite so. You’d think the pollsters would poll in a manner to reflect the reality.
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Plus, they’re not equal terms.
“I don’t have a dog, I have a poodle” sounds stupid, doesn’t it?
Well, a “republic” is like specifying the general type – “dog” – and “democracy” is indicating which species exactly.
If we’re a republic but not a democracy, well then, what kind of republic are we? Are we an oligarchy? Are we an autocracy?
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Oh yeah and you guys have your own problems, too.
Absolutely. I think one of the interesting parts of The Handmaid’s tale sequel novel is the impact on Canada. You guys would end up with a large refugee problem, too.
Pollsters gonna poll, tho.
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In between smoking weed in the parking lot I’m pretty sure I learned we were a constitutional republic in high school.
…Constitutional and democratic aren’t exclusive either.
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But doesn’t the republic part make us not a democracy? A democracy means the majority rules screwing the minority.
Not that our current representation form is working but that was the intention.
The whole being high thing through most of high school makes me the worst person ever to teach about our government though.
No, as per literally the post you were replying to.
A democracy doesn’t mean a system where minorities aren’t protected, although as with other systems that can be a concern. It means a system where the kratos is held by the dēmos, which is to say the government involves the people – as per the dictionary, usually by elected representatives. A republic means a res that is publica, which is to say a system where public representatives hold supreme power rather than a king or dictator.
They aren’t exclusive. Dictionary definitions aside, the world is full of countries that name themselves Democratic Republics, if with varying degrees of honesty. I don’t understand why this is so confusing.
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It’s hard to understand because there are countless explanations on what type of government the United States is.
And I admitted I’m not the best person to even try to understand or explain it.
No matter what we are, at this point in time, it ain’t workin’. In my opinion of course.
That would be Ochlocracy.
It all comes down to what the Greeks thought were the good forms of government (Monarchy, Aristocracy and Democracy) and their bad counterparts (Tyranny, Oligarchy and Ochlocracy respectively). Somewhere over the last 2000 years the distinction between Democracy and Ochlocracy got blurred by people who are anti-democracy.
The Roman Republic would have been a democracy under this system, although there were factions who wanted an aristocracy and we all know it ended up being replaced by a monarchy/tyranny.
TLDR version:
If you don’t want a Monarchy or an Aristocracy, you want a Democracy. Trumpism is dictionary definition Ochlocracy.
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See also: Kleptocracy.
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