Democracy Under the Microscope

[Boss]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

 

[owebo]

What about his demeanor leads you to conclude he does not respect the office of president?

Vile language about undocumented Mexican-Americans, hate talk about Muslims, gross expressions about women, promising to jail his political opponent, generalizing about the media being all liars and bad people, mocking the handicapped, boasting that he is clever because he does not pay any federal income tax, promising to tear-up the agreement with Iran signed by the president and ratified by Congress ... etc. Americans would normally have thought these traits would have disqualified a person from occupying the Oval Office.

No, you said HE doesn't "respect" the office of the president. Nothing you cited says anything about what he may or may not think about the presidency--just what YOU think is important to "show respect" while running for office. ...

Bringing the office of president into the gutter with his demeanor and language shows contempt for the position Trump is about to assume.

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

 

[Eloy]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

I never wrote that the USA is a pure democracy because I know it is a representative democracy but a democracy all the same.

 

[owebo]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

I never wrote that the USA is a pure democracy because I know it is a representative democracy but a democracy all the same.

We're not a representative democracy, were a representative republic....

At least get right what you are told to attack....it makes you sound like a mindless drone....

 

[Eloy]

Vile language about undocumented Mexican-Americans, hate talk about Muslims, gross expressions about women, promising to jail his political opponent, generalizing about the media being all liars and bad people, mocking the handicapped, boasting that he is clever because he does not pay any federal income tax, promising to tear-up the agreement with Iran signed by the president and ratified by Congress ... etc. Americans would normally have thought these traits would have disqualified a person from occupying the Oval Office.

No, you said HE doesn't "respect" the office of the president. Nothing you cited says anything about what he may or may not think about the presidency--just what YOU think is important to "show respect" while running for office. ...

Bringing the office of president into the gutter with his demeanor and language shows contempt for the position Trump is about to assume.

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

I don't but I believe Trump plays golf.

 

[owebo]

No, you said HE doesn't "respect" the office of the president. Nothing you cited says anything about what he may or may not think about the presidency--just what YOU think is important to "show respect" while running for office. ...

Bringing the office of president into the gutter with his demeanor and language shows contempt for the position Trump is about to assume.

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

I don't but I believe Trump plays golf.

He does...thus the locker room talk.....

 

[Eloy]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

I never wrote that the USA is a pure democracy because I know it is a representative democracy but a democracy all the same.

We're not a representative democracy, were a representative republic....

At least get right what you are told to attack....it makes you sound like a mindless drone....

Check your dictionary.

 

[owebo]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

I never wrote that the USA is a pure democracy because I know it is a representative democracy but a democracy all the same.

We're not a representative democracy, were a representative republic....

At least get right what you are told to attack....it makes you sound like a mindless drone....

Check your dictionary.

I did, under mindless drone it says: Eloy......

Now what?

 

[Eloy]

Bringing the office of president into the gutter with his demeanor and language shows contempt for the position Trump is about to assume.

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

I don't but I believe Trump plays golf.

He does...thus the locker room talk.....

I've heard professional athletes contradict what Trump said all men talk like in the locker room.
Young people were particularly sickened by his talk.
Donald Trump's 'Locker Room Talk' Was the Last Straw for Many Young Voters

 

[owebo]

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

I don't but I believe Trump plays golf.

He does...thus the locker room talk.....

I've heard professional athletes contradict what Trump said all men talk like in the locker room.
Young people were particularly sickened by his talk.
Donald Trump's 'Locker Room Talk' Was the Last Straw for Many Young Voters

Yes, your mindless drone friends....they were all discredited by athletes with minds...

Time.com? You really need to look beyond the fake news....

 

[xyz]

Writing in THE TIMES yesterday, Phillip Collins reminds us that in The Rebel Albert Camus wrote that democracy is more important for what it prevents than for what it allows. Well, Republican Donald Trump who appears not to respect the office of president as evidenced by his demeanor and language throughout the election will be in charge of the Executive. Instead of being a check and balance on him, the elected Congress is also Republican so he will get his way and since Republicans are against big government, we can expect to see Washington to be stripped back to the bare bone over the next few years. What will American politics prevent, then, while Trump is president, one wonders. We shall soon see. It is indeed a test of democracy.

So you've become a believer in propaganda, believing in the myth that Republicans believe in less government?

Republicans and Big Government

 

[ErikViking]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

This:
"We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen."

Do you know if those rules have changed at all? I mean, the union (and the world) have changed alot during those years. Just one example, from the top of my head, the oil industry didn't exist - if it had, do you think such a powerful industry (economy, infrasrtucture, foreign policy, defense, culture, demographic) would have made its way into those documents?
(Really hope you can make sense of the question)

 

[owebo]

Writing in THE TIMES yesterday, Phillip Collins reminds us that in The Rebel Albert Camus wrote that democracy is more important for what it prevents than for what it allows. Well, Republican Donald Trump who appears not to respect the office of president as evidenced by his demeanor and language throughout the election will be in charge of the Executive. Instead of being a check and balance on him, the elected Congress is also Republican so he will get his way and since Republicans are against big government, we can expect to see Washington to be stripped back to the bare bone over the next few years. What will American politics prevent, then, while Trump is president, one wonders. We shall soon see. It is indeed a test of democracy.

So you've become a believer in propaganda, believing in the myth that Republicans believe in less government?

Republicans and Big Government

Did you happen to notice the most recent POTUS election in America?

 

[bripat9643]

Writing in THE TIMES yesterday, Phillip Collins reminds us that in The Rebel Albert Camus wrote that democracy is more important for what it prevents than for what it allows. Well, Republican Donald Trump who appears not to respect the office of president as evidenced by his demeanor and language throughout the election will be in charge of the Executive. Instead of being a check and balance on him, the elected Congress is also Republican so he will get his way and since Republicans are against big government, we can expect to see Washington to be stripped back to the bare bone over the next few years. What will American politics prevent, then, while Trump is president, one wonders. We shall soon see. It is indeed a test of democracy.

What about his demeanor leads you to conclude he does not respect the office of president?

Vile language about undocumented Mexican-Americans, hate talk about Muslims, gross expressions about women, promising to jail his political opponent, generalizing about the media being all liars and bad people, mocking the handicapped, boasting that he is clever because he does not pay any federal income tax, promising to tear-up the agreement with Iran signed by the president and ratified by Congress ... etc. Americans would normally have thought these traits would have disqualified a person from occupying the Oval Office.

You mean illegal immigrants?

I choose to avoid such insulting language.

You mean you choose to avoid facts.

 

[bripat9643]

What about his demeanor leads you to conclude he does not respect the office of president?

Vile language about undocumented Mexican-Americans, hate talk about Muslims, gross expressions about women, promising to jail his political opponent, generalizing about the media being all liars and bad people, mocking the handicapped, boasting that he is clever because he does not pay any federal income tax, promising to tear-up the agreement with Iran signed by the president and ratified by Congress ... etc. Americans would normally have thought these traits would have disqualified a person from occupying the Oval Office.

No, you said HE doesn't "respect" the office of the president. Nothing you cited says anything about what he may or may not think about the presidency--just what YOU think is important to "show respect" while running for office. ...

Bringing the office of president into the gutter with his demeanor and language shows contempt for the position Trump is about to assume.

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You do get CNN and ABC. They told you what to think about what Trump said. It was locker room talk, not meant to be broadcast to the entire nation. ABC stabbed Trump in the back when it did that. Would you want everything you've said in private to be broadcast to the entire nation?

 

[bripat9643]

You think it was the gutter. Half of America disagrees. Actually, you don't even think it was the gutter, you just let the Washington Post tell you to think it was the gutter.

George Soros, an evil man and a major force behind the inundation of the West by non-whites for his own reasons, was the major funder of Hillary's campaign and undoubtedly a major reason she took the politically unpopular position way out front promising a 500 percent increase in Muslim immigration when she took office.
Importance of story: 100.
Washington Post articles about it: 0.

Twenty years ago, Donald Trump called a beauty contestant who had gotten fat fat.
Importance of story: 0.
Washington Post articles about it: 12.

And here you are, dutifully chirping away mindlessly about "gross expressions about women".

I heard Trump talking on a tape myself, what he says was locker room stuff. I also saw on TV how he spoke to about woman reporter. They do not sell The Washington Post where I live.

You don't do sports?

I don't but I believe Trump plays golf.

He does...thus the locker room talk.....

I've heard professional athletes contradict what Trump said all men talk like in the locker room.
Young people were particularly sickened by his talk.
Donald Trump's 'Locker Room Talk' Was the Last Straw for Many Young Voters

Young people talk worse than anyone.

 

[Boss]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

I never wrote that the USA is a pure democracy because I know it is a representative democracy but a democracy all the same.

No, it is NOT a representative democracy. It is a representative republic. A Republic is a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. Our specific laws have built-in checks and balances to protect against the tyranny of the majority, which is what a democracy is. So it's NOT a democracy "all the same" as you put it. It's not a democracy at all, other than the fact that we hold democratic elections.

You will often hear people say "our system of democracy" but what they mean is our system of democratic elections. We don't have a system of democracy, we have a constitutional representative republic. You may think this is nit-picky and trivial but words have meaning and it's important not to conflate our system with a democracy. OUR system is specifically designed and intended to protect us from a democracy.

 

[Boss]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

This:
"We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen."

Do you know if those rules have changed at all? I mean, the union (and the world) have changed alot during those years. Just one example, from the top of my head, the oil industry didn't exist - if it had, do you think such a powerful industry (economy, infrasrtucture, foreign policy, defense, culture, demographic) would have made its way into those documents?
(Really hope you can make sense of the question)

What does a single capitalist industry have to do with the system of government our founders established?

No, for the most part, the rules of the Electoral College haven't changed. We've added new states and increased the number of electors but the system remains the same as always.

One thing that is important to remember-- the framers established a small limited federal government. It is specifically restricted in it's power under Article I Section 8. All remaining power is supposed to be held by the States and People respectively. The Fed is supposed to have a very limited number of core responsibilities on behalf of the collective and these are very clearly stipulated.

These were very smart men who knew full well that times would change, societal needs would change, things in the future would be dramatically different, we'd have different problems to arise and need to be dealt with. That's precisely why they gave us the option of being able to amend the constitution. We've done it successfully 17 times since the Bill of Rights. So this idea that they didn't know things would change or be different in the future is just plain dumb... no offense, but it just is.

 

[owebo]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

This:
"We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen."

Do you know if those rules have changed at all? I mean, the union (and the world) have changed alot during those years. Just one example, from the top of my head, the oil industry didn't exist - if it had, do you think such a powerful industry (economy, infrasrtucture, foreign policy, defense, culture, demographic) would have made its way into those documents?
(Really hope you can make sense of the question)

What does a single capitalist industry have to do with the system of government our founders established?

No, for the most part, the rules of the Electoral College haven't changed. We've added new states and increased the number of electors but the system remains the same as always.

One thing that is important to remember-- the framers established a small limited federal government. It is specifically restricted in it's power under Article I Section 8. All remaining power is supposed to be held by the States and People respectively. The Fed is supposed to have a very limited number of core responsibilities on behalf of the collective and these are very clearly stipulated.

These were very smart men who knew full well that times would change, societal needs would change, things in the future would be dramatically different, we'd have different problems to arise and need to be dealt with. That's precisely why they gave us the option of being able to amend the constitution. We've done it successfully 17 times since the Bill of Rights. So this idea that they didn't know things would change or be different in the future is just plain dumb... no offense, but it just is.

Didn't you vote for Hillary Boss?

 

[ErikViking]

The United States of America is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic with periodic democratic elections. Pure democracy is tyranny of the majority and our system is specifically designed and intended to prevent that. I can't explain why people continue failing to understand this. Perhaps it's simply ignorance? I don't know.

We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen.

Now, some people will scream and cry... "Every vote should count!" But that's a democracy! We're NOT a democracy. Every vote certainly doesn't and shouldn't count. The House of Representatives is comprised of people who were elected by their districts to represent all the people in the district... none of them have ever won unanimously, so they obviously are not representative of all the voters in their district. They represent the majority of voters in their district. The votes of the minority aren't considered by the Representative. The Senate seats two people from each state... doesn't matter how many or how few people are in the state, you get two Senators and that's all. Most state populations contain a plethora of political viewpoints but only two viewpoints matter and that is the viewpoints of their two Senators.

IF we had a pure democracy where every vote counted..... you would not have legalized abortion in America. Christianity would be the National Religion. You can forget about Gay Marriage and transgender rights... or even basic civil rights. In every case, the tyranny of the majority would vote these things down. We would probably still have slavery in America. It would be a completely different country if we had a pure democracy. Be extremely thankful that our founders saw the dangers of a pure democracy and gave us a constitutional representative republic instead.

This:
"We do not elect our president by popular vote. The popular vote total is a meaningless number for all intents and purposes. We have individual states and each state has a pre-determined number of electoral college votes. The people of each state vote for which electors will represent their state. That's the rules of the game and how it's been played for 247 years. It's not going to change because smaller states would literally have to cede their political voices and that's not going to ever happen."

Do you know if those rules have changed at all? I mean, the union (and the world) have changed alot during those years. Just one example, from the top of my head, the oil industry didn't exist - if it had, do you think such a powerful industry (economy, infrasrtucture, foreign policy, defense, culture, demographic) would have made its way into those documents?
(Really hope you can make sense of the question)

What does a single capitalist industry have to do with the system of government our founders established?

No, for the most part, the rules of the Electoral College haven't changed. We've added new states and increased the number of electors but the system remains the same as always.

One thing that is important to remember-- the framers established a small limited federal government. It is specifically restricted in it's power under Article I Section 8. All remaining power is supposed to be held by the States and People respectively. The Fed is supposed to have a very limited number of core responsibilities on behalf of the collective and these are very clearly stipulated.

These were very smart men who knew full well that times would change, societal needs would change, things in the future would be dramatically different, we'd have different problems to arise and need to be dealt with. That's precisely why they gave us the option of being able to amend the constitution. We've done it successfully 17 times since the Bill of Rights. So this idea that they didn't know things would change or be different in the future is just plain dumb... no offense, but it just is.

"What does a single capitalist industry have to do with the system of government our founders established?

No, for the most part, the rules of the Electoral College haven't changed. We've added new states and increased the number of electors but the system remains the same as always."

This industry changed the World, so I took it as an example. Maybe some rural state with a low population had just a few electoral votes - and then turned into be the backbone of the union. You explained it well below.