So... America is an oligarchy now

[The United States of North Amerigo]

Well I do vote for people so I'd like to disagree.

[Havenburgh]

Its as much of a democracy as Russia

... Is Russia a democracy...*remembers Putin*... probably not

Yea putin, rhe guy who gets 140% of the popular vote

[The Jaclean Empire]

Not just America.

[Impaled Nazarene]

So... America is an oligarchy now
...heh... what do you guys think about our new system of government...

Oligarchy is a form of government which means (at least by modern day definition)
The economic elite have far much more political power than the majority, who has little to no power.
When we vote it only chooses which oligarch will take a certain place, the majority of the time the oligarchs only care what the economic elite think and not of the majority.

I'am justing asking if we Americans are going to be okay.

New forum law: Short courses on how to be a proper and competent OP are required before users are allowed to create threads.

[GreatestBanks]

It'd be nice if you could provide any evidence to substantiate your position. I do think there is significant corruption, but it'd really be nice if you could actually elaborate to any extent on your position.

[Ketora]

You actually have to, you know, provide proof of your statement.



It's a DEBATE forum. You have to provide the framework of the debate.

Things worked pretty well before people were forced to tpye the equivalent of an 8th grade current events assignment to start a thread.

...gee, I actually did not know about this essay thing
I like you
We should be focusing on a debate, not an essay

[GreatestBanks]

... Is Russia a democracy...*remembers Putin*... probably not

Yea putin, rhe guy who gets 140% of the popular vote

Putin's approval rating: 171%
Kim Jung Un's approval rating: 196%

[The Intergalactic Russian Empire]

"Many dictatorships are oligarchies.
Many democracies are oligarchies.
Therefore, many dictatorships are democracies."

-said no one ever. I made these words up.

O well... I guess america is not a democracy then

The US isn't actually a democracy, technically it's a federal presidential constitutional republic. If it were a democracy everyone would vote on the laws directly instead of voting for representatives who make the laws for them.

[GreatestBanks]

O well... I guess america is not a democracy then

The US isn't actually a democracy, technically it's a federal presidential constitutional republic. If it were a democracy everyone would vote on the laws directly instead of voting for representatives who make the laws for them.

True, and that's good, because voters today are uneducated and uninformed.

[Havenburgh]

Yea putin, rhe guy who gets 140% of the popular vote

Putin's approval rating: 171%
Kim Jung Un's approval rating: 196%

I was talking about elections not aproval ratings but even better!

[Impaled Nazarene]

"Many dictatorships are oligarchies.
Many democracies are oligarchies.
Therefore, many dictatorships are democracies."

-said no one ever. I made these words up.

sig worthy

[Ketora]

Well I do vote for people so I'd like to disagree.

Well,
The parties choose the candidates,
and the candidates are almost always economic elite...
There are allot of countries who have elections that are not so fair...
The economy has much more influence than your vote.

But with candidates like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... It look s like election won't even matter soon... but if I had to choose a candidate... Ben Cline seems pretty nice.

But most of the Oligarchy is among the legislature and big companies

[Ketora]

Putin's approval rating: 171%
Kim Jung Un's approval rating: 196%

I was talking about elections not aproval ratings but even better!

ERROR ERROR
MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!

[GreatestBanks]

Well I do vote for people so I'd like to disagree.

Well,
The parties choose the candidates,
and the candidates are almost always economic elite...
There are allot of countries who have elections that are not so fair...
The economy has much more influence than your vote.

But with candidates like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... It look s like election won't even matter soon... but if I had to choose a candidate... Ben Cline seems pretty nice.

But most of the Oligarchy is among the legislature and big companies

Lobbyists from big business and big labor provide almost all of the funding for campaigns.
Btw, Trump funds himself, he doesn't get donations bigger than $2,500

[Havenburgh]

The US isn't actually a democracy, technically it's a federal presidential constitutional republic. If it were a democracy everyone would vote on the laws directly instead of voting for representatives who make the laws for them.

True, and that's good, because voters today are uneducated and uninformed.

A republic is a representative democracy. What your thinking of is a direct democracy.

[GreatestBanks]

I was talking about elections not aproval ratings but even better!

ERROR ERROR
MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!

It's a joke, showing how rigged Russia and North Korea are in electoral terms.

[Wallenburg]

Yup. Welcome to America.

[Hakons]

It is true that the rich have much more political sway than the common masses. The top 1% control 50% of the economy. Taxes are payed by how many loopholes you can find. This is why I want Bernie to be president because he promises to change the, quite frankly, rigged political system.

[GreatestBanks]

True, and that's good, because voters today are uneducated and uninformed.

A republic is a representative democracy. What your thinking of is a direct democracy.

Direct democracy today could never work.
And that's true, but it seems that the words ''Democracy'' and ''republic'' or ''Dictatorship'' and ''oligarchy'' have seemingly lost their meanings.

[Syrixia]

I think this OP is bad and that you should feel bad.

What's OP?

[Togghran]

It was much worse in the late 1800s.

[Havenburgh]

Well I do vote for people so I'd like to disagree.

Well,
The parties choose the candidates,
and the candidates are almost always economic elite...
There are allot of countries who have elections that are not so fair...
The economy has much more influence than your vote.

But with candidates like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... It look s like election won't even matter soon... but if I had to choose a candidate... Ben Cline seems pretty nice.

But most of the Oligarchy is among the legislature and big companies

Its everywhere. The big company and the banks control the houses. Hillary, Romney, Trump, they are all controlled by them. How? Because the companies give them millions for their campaigns and in return the candidates champion what the companies want.

[Ketora]

True, and that's good, because voters today are uneducated and uninformed.

A republic is a representative democracy. What your thinking of is a direct democracy.

If it was a representative democracy, the senate would actually care about the majority

[GreatestBanks]

Well,
The parties choose the candidates,
and the candidates are almost always economic elite...
There are allot of countries who have elections that are not so fair...
The economy has much more influence than your vote.

But with candidates like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... It look s like election won't even matter soon... but if I had to choose a candidate... Ben Cline seems pretty nice.

But most of the Oligarchy is among the legislature and big companies

Its everywhere. The big company and the banks control the houses. Hillary, Romney, Trump, they are all controlled by them. How? Because the companies give them millions for their campaigns and in return the candidates champion what the companies want.

You're wrong with Trump. Trump gets almost all of his money from him self-funding his campaign

[Havenburgh]

A republic is a representative democracy. What your thinking of is a direct democracy.

Direct democracy today could never work.
And that's true, but it seems that the words ''Democracy'' and ''republic'' or ''Dictatorship'' and ''oligarchy'' have seemingly lost their meanings.

Direct democracy can work in small groups. In countries in modern size, no the population is way to large. Thats also why a libertarian system would never work either. And words like socialism and communism have lost their meaning. Tell me, whats the first thing you think of when I say communism?