Representative Democracy IS NOT Democracy
“In 93 percent of House of Representatives races and 94 percent of Senate races that had been decided by mid-day Nov. 5, the candidate who spent the most money ended up winning…” Just soak that up for the time being.
Please dont leave stupid comments like, “democracy is the dictatorship of the majority.” I’ll address this issue in my next video. Also, don’t assume what my positions is and then argue that position.
Sources
House and Senate Personal finances
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/index.php
Candidate with the most money wins.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/11/money-wins-white-house-and.html
Number of Lobbyist and how much they spend.
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php
TARP Bailout.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30113628/
Return on Lobbying.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1375082
Campaign Bundlers.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/08/obamas-elevates-three-more-big.html
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/09/major-obama-campaign-bundlers.html
Political Scandals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_scandals_of_the_United_States
Duration : 0:9:36
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March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Thanks man. So many …
Thanks man. So many more people need to understand that the left vs. right paradigm is a move right out of makaveli’s the prince, “Divide & Conquer”.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
@Renegen1: I agree …
@Renegen1: I agree that not all representative democracies are the same and I was using the US just as an example. However, I think R. Democracy uses a middleman where one is not needed. I think many of my points can be universalized into all systems of R Democracy. I think if you follow the idea of what democracy is and what it is suppose to do, then you would prefer something like Participatory Democracy. I think that the Canadian system is better because it get closer to the democratic ideal.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Interesting idea… …
Interesting idea… what do you have to say about the fact that not all representative democracies are the same? You hit the nail on the head with the one person one vote, that is the key issue, but we DONT have it because of the influence of money. One Corporation can buy thousands of votes.
But look at Canada. Our politicians are typically more from within our population and we seem to have a stronger political system. Overall you can’t generalize like that, it shows a lack of knowledge.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Well done…. Well …
Well done…. Well done indeed!
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
My video Direct …
My video Direct Democracy is what I would replace Representative Democracy with. Thanks for the comment.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
I agree with this …
I agree with this about on a scale 5/10.. I Think that a represenitive democracy is required however, I believe it should be done ALOT differently then the current system we have now. Not in favor of any corprate favor. Good video though, I gave it 5 stars.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Remember that how …
Remember that how corrupt politicians are variy in the USA it is high tough.
And also representive systems that vary is something we have because direct democracy is more ideal the realistic in the larger sense some nations like Switzerland have both direct and representive elements
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
I quite agree with …
I quite agree with you. BTW, your videos are always clear and direct. 5/5.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
@Serethen Cool, …
@Serethen Cool, i’ve read that in some magazines. But still, its only one seat and the two major parties will always prevail. The system is built for that.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Great video, …
Great video, everything you said is so very true.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
AMEN!!!!
Every …
AMEN!!!!
Every piece is TRUE!
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Representative …
Representative Government does not work in the USA, because 90% of the people cannot even name their representative from their own local district.
for a Constitutional Representative Republic to function for the benefit of the people – the people must participate.
It is a concept called self-governing – but it is obviously NOT working because the engine is dead – the engine is the people
the people are not participating –
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March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Well done indeed. …
Well done indeed. You have taken my thoughts and presented them so much more clearly than I did the other night when I was trying to explain this to my friend.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Excellent, well …
Excellent, well done.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
again 5 stars. this …
again 5 stars. this is fantastic
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Don Siegelman …
Don Siegelman wasn’t corrupt
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
So I guess my point …
So I guess my point is that there is a level between direct democracy and the American and British form of representative democracy that is far more democratic, which you should look into. Read from the first comment below.
“Proportional representation”
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
For instance in …
For instance in Sweden, a party by the name “The Pirate Party” was established recently,
derived from the torrent site thepiratebay
Their soul purpose is to reform laws regarding copyright and patents.
The stunning part is that they will probably get a seat in parliament in the upcoming
general election. They already have a seat in the European Parliament, they got 7,1% of the vote.
One can actually take matters in ones own hands, without using tons of money on lobbyists.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
It is also easier …
It is also easier to identify yourself ideologically with a party when there are plenty of them to choose from.
It is also easier to create a party that can make influence, you only need one seat in parliament to have influence, because your one seat support can decide if a government can stay in power, or the one seat can even be a part of the government.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
The government will …
The government will be less effective when handeling radical change, some will say this is good. Because a majority in parliament is hard to obtain without cooperating with other parties, and radical solo campaigns like the Bush area is less likely to happen.
In my country the current government at the moment has majority in the parliament, but it consists of three parties, one big one that had to cooparate with two small parties to obtain 50%.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Well, the issue in …
Well, the issue in the USA is that you have “first past the post/Winner takes it all”
and not
“Proportional representation”
Nick has 20 votes
Thomas has 20 votes
Jane has 21 votes.
The first two, Nick and Thomas are excluded in USA (and UK).
This is less democratic, while in an Proportional representation, the number of seats in the parliament represents the number of votes, so all the three candidates would be almost equally strong. = More power to the people.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
daah…!!!aristotle …
daah…!!!aristotle wrote about that stuff in “nicomacheian ethics” some 2500 years ago…
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Hmm… for some …
Hmm… for some reason the video freezes at 7:58.
Before that the video was great. 5/5
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Why bother mincing …
Why bother mincing words?
A murderer is a murderer, a thief is a thief, and a politico is both – no matter what we decide to call his state.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:25 am
I don’t know who …
I don’t know who michael parenti is but I’m happy enough to find that you seem to agree with what i’m saying. People need to understand the structure of democracy, and that it depends on more than the right to vote.