recogitare.com

As for holidays, I'm curious about something. There is no such thing as a mandatory holiday in the US. There are customs, but no laws. Federal workers get certain holidays off. Other than that, it's all by agreement between employer and employees, sometimes with unions representing employees. Almos...

Consider: If all we did was make the vote mandatory, like Australia, and voted on a holiday...just that...we'd see very different results. That alone, if true, exposes the flimsy nature of our democratic intent. Trust me, mandatory voting is a hard sell to Americans. I've never seen someone so vehe...

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2024 5:17 amMoney, whether yours or donated, can give you a platform, but you cant buy votes.

Technically correct, which as we all know is the best kind of correct, but you cannot deny that advertising manipulates people - that's its purpose.

I have no cool stories from Scouts.

There was that time gale-force winds blew our tent away. That was fun.

There are issues with the way we pick elected representatives, but there are issues everywhere in the world where there are elections. I'm just glad we have elections to complain about. If things were as bad as you say they are, power wouldn't shift back and forth the way it does in America. Oh com...

I was a Scout. We didn't call them "boy" scouts because girls weren't Scouts, they were Guides.

Scouting taught me three things: knots, bullying, and why camping sucks.

Well, I feel like I vote, and I do so based on my principles, and my assessment of which candidate I feel like best fits the vision of what I want from government. If everyone did that, it sounds like democracy to me. Only if everyone actually can do that, and if everybody's vote counts equally. It...

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2024 11:00 amBased on that description, I would rather live here.

In a binary choice between America and Bolivia? Fuck yeah.

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2024 11:00 amI believe the US is more democratic than Bolivia.

This is not a high bar.

Meadmaker wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 6:54 amIs it bad enough to say that we aren't a democracy, because some people 250 or so years ago came up with a system that has some cracks today? I'm not seeing it.

"Some cracks" doesn't even begin to describe the problems with American "democracy".