Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Linkster
A republic is similar to a democracy except that it forms a governing body with the rule of law at their side and checks and balances to use in cases where it gets out of hand.
|
If this is a way of saying that democracy is simple majority rule, while a republic is majority rule restrained by laws to protect the minority, then yes, you are right.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Linkster
Second as far as the liberals and conservatives issue - this has been going on for hundreds of years as well - and is a part of that checks and balances - the funny part of it all (and I believe I could actually be some peoples grandfather here) is that the "mold" of liberalism that we spout off about here - is so conservative to me I have to laugh. The liberals have been so spun by the "conservative press" that they don't even realize that what is left-wing today was middle of the road 30 years ago.
|
Right again. The big mystery of current American politics is how in the space of three-quarters of a century, the Mid-West has changed from being a hotbed of left-leaning radicalism - Kansas City even had its own socialist newspaper - into a conservative bastion of the Republicans.
Somewhere down the line we seem to have forgotten that practical politics isn't about ideology, left this and right the other. It's about parties representing constituencies and when you clear all the spin out of the way, Democrats represent the middle and working class, Republicans the wealthy. Just as they always have.
Which brings us back to the Mid-West where today's generation faces exactly the same problems as its grandparents, but apparently believes the solution lies in the exact opposite direction. It is bizarre that workers are voting for the party which is systematically stripping almost every right granted to them over the past hundred years and returning to the wealthy privileges their grandfathers threw out. They also tolerate that the issues which they claim matter to them are totally ignored, except when their votes are needed again. 70 years or so ago even farmers belonged to militant organisations, but today they will vote in favor of their own extinction.