Tag Archives: democracy
Brexit – Does Democracy Work?
I haven’t a full grasp of the results of the Brexit (British Exit) Referendum to leave the European Union (EU). But it does seem that British voters voted to leave the European Union in part out of frustrations with their government… The lesson here is that the British did not really understand what they were voting for using a democratic process… Continue reading
Posted in Constitution, Government
Tagged Brexit, democracy, democratic process, EU, European Union, Great Britain, Referendum, representative, republic, vote
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Negative Political Campaigns are unDemocratic
Somehow negative campaigns turn me off as I am getting older but unfortunately I see how effective they can be. But they are very distracting and confusing as political campaigns tend to be. With PACs and Super-PACs and now the ability of rich individuals and corporations to contribute almost endless amounts of money to their favorite candidates, parties and voting issues as part of free expression political campaigns are very big business. And as such candidate hires very pricy spin-doctors whose job it is to make their candidate look godlike and their opponents look like pure evil campaigns get uglier and uglier. This is truly a tragedy that Democracy is no longer about the truth about candidates but about winning. That is why we have a Congress that is so inept. Continue reading
Human Rights as I See It
As I see it our values and form of freedom, democracy and government will not work where religion plays a dominating role in every aspect of life. Over the centuries the Western world has developed human rights values that are less based upon religious doctrine than upon a rational right of All human beings to dignity and “…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. But much of the world is not yet ready. We cannot cram our values down the throats of those unwilling to accept them without long-term consequences. It took us hundreds of years to develop the principles of freedom, democracy, and equality and it did not come without a revolution and much bloodshed. During the Dark Ages we were very much like the very people we are trying to change. Continue reading
Free Expression by Personal Wealth
Last week, on April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in McCutcheon v. FEC that a single donor can give up to $3.6 million in one election cycle, money that political parties and other political organizations, PACs, and Super PACs can now funnel into aiding individual candidate who still have campaign limits as well as to ballot initiatives. This is a 30 fold increase over what an individual could previously contribute. I have a larger problem with large political contributions being a 1st Amendment protected free expression. Protected free expression implies expressions publicly expressed without consequence. In order to protect the expression of donations as in the 1st Amendment there must be something needing protection. Continue reading
Why it’s Important the Youth of America shoud Vote
Young citizens are complacent and do not vote. They have a tenancy to be slightly more liberal than older citizens who do vote. Thus we have more conservative Republican Presidents. If young voters would vote there might be more balance in election outcomes. Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Issues, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged Conservatism, democracy, Democrats, election, government, legislation, president, right, Supreme Court, taxes, vote, young voters, Youth
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A Failing Democracy
The US Congress is inept and unable to function as a body that enacts laws. The polarization of the two parties results in nothing being accomplished. Congregational leaders are driven by ideology instead of compromise. Our country is fighting wars abroad and trying to spread democracy yet democracy at home is a dismal and embarrassing failure. Those who we are trying to become democratic must be laughing behind our backs at our non-functional government. Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Issues, Government
Tagged Campaign finance, campaign reform, congress, democracy, flawed, polarization, politics, Supreme Court, United States, Wealth
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ouR Social Conscience 