OCCUPY WALLSTREET!

[Peatree]

Originally Posted by Aadill [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

show me what democracy looks like

Moot point. The United State of America is not a democracy. The United States of America is a republic. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Peatree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Moot point. The United State of America is not a democracy. The United States of America is a republic. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Actually it's not. It's "American Democracy" - a novel form of government which only we have.

[Peatree]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Actually it's not. It's "American Democracy" - a novel form of government which only we have.

Wrong. To be exact, the United States of America is defined as a federal constitutional republic. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Peatree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wrong. To be exact, the United States of America is defined as a federal constitutional republic. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.

Those sentences have been condensed in colloquial language to: "American Democracy." If you say "American Democracy" to someone, they will assume that what I meant by that is: "The United States of America is defined as a federal constitutional republic. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document."

In any case, it's not a pure democracy or republic. It is what it is. We have a novel form of government here, whatever you call it.

[vaylorie]

Without a doubt unlawful protest and violence is the only way. There are no peaceable ways to achieve change. Empower the movement brother!

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by vaylorie [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Without a doubt unlawful protest and violence is the only way. There are no peaceable ways to achieve change. Empower the movement brother!

You're already thinking about things in the wrong way. The 'laws' that deem what the protesters are doing as 'wrong' are what is infact wrong. If you support the 'laws' of a broken system than you already don't understand what's coming or what's happening. Good luck!

PS - The boston teaparty was against the law, and yet its heralded as a landmark movement in American history, food for thought.

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by vaylorie [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Without a doubt unlawful protest and violence is the only way. There are no peaceable ways to achieve change. Empower the movement brother!

Also sidenote, while you're cynical jab of a statement was teeming with sarcasm, it also contained - whether to your knowledge or not - an undertone of truth and a valid argument. Can true change be achieved through peaceable means? I'd argue no, and that true change can only be enacted through escalation. History seems to be presenting us with this truth daily as we're bearing witness to the Arab spring. Tyrannical rule and deprivation of rights was brought down by the violent rebellions in Egypt and Libya. While in America we like to believe in peaceful protest based on our history of civil disobedience against the broken system of segregation, we have another broken system to contend with in the monstrosity that our government has become.

So I do agree with you vaylorie, where peaceful protest fails, only violence, as an unfortunate means to an end, will really bring about the downfall of our current broken system and allowed for a rebirth of what America was actually founded upon.

[Pico]

i follow every law by the book i have literally no brain

[vaylorie]

Amen brother. You are right to compare the plight of the American person to the oppression of those in Egypt and Libya. We should live in a world where laws don't exist and each man lives and takes as he sees fit. Fight the good fight my brother!

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by vaylorie [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You are right to compare the plight of the American person to the oppression of those in Egypt and Libya. We should live in a world where laws don't exist and each man lives and takes as he sees fit.

Straw man argument -
"To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position."

I have no problem with people dancing around a subject using quick, sarcastic jabs rather than addressing true concerns and issues that are affecting millions of people and will soon be affecting the globe. I'm no anarchist, I'm just a libertarian. If you understand the difference then you'll see that I am in support of a drastic reduction in government. A social contract is necessary, I am just in favor of a change in the current social contract.

The system currently in place rewards the mistakes of the oligarchy based upon their wealth. Red-blue, right wing-left wing, democrat-republican. It doesn't matter which side anyone claims to be on, the problem is with the corruption in our government. And if you're naive enough to think the oppression we face in the United States doesn't exist merely because it goes by a different name than like I said earlier, you just don't understand yet. You'll see it soon though, the crisis is unavoidable. Our government, backed by The Fed, is choosing to take on a socialist agenda by propping up failed banks and financial institutions. The proprietors of these failed banks and financial institutions have positioned themselves into positions of government in the US - Hank Paulson ex Goldman Sachs CEO, former Sec of Treasury for example - and abroad - Mario Draghi ex-managing director of Goldman Sachs International, current Head of European Central Bank - so as to ensure that they are not the ones damaged.

The American middle class is currently and, if we continue on the path our government has set for us, will take the brunt of damage coming our way in the currency devaluation crisis over the next decade or so. Real wealth will vanish for the majority of Americans while those in the highest tiers of wealth and political office will remain safe because they've used our government and the governments of Europe to create a safety net for themselves. I don't agree with that. The system needs to be changed. If protests need to be escalated in order to ensure we return back to our capitalist free market roots, and that the majority, not the extreme and corrupt minority, are protected... then so be it.