Canada more democratic than the U.S.?
- Thread starter Sublime
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I know I shouldn't have to point out something as basic as this....but obviously I am not dealing with just adults here.....but there is a definate difference between an adult who is ABLE to be informed but is too damn lazy to do so, and a child who really does not have the mental capacity to be fully informed.
Okay guys, let's get serious.
Recent research has indicated that the brain is not fully developed intil the early to mid twenties.......which explains a whole bundle of things about teenagers.......
The Greeks did not allow a citizen to vote until he was 30 years of age.
I think 18 is a very good compromise.........
Recent research has indicated that the brain is not fully developed intil the early to mid twenties.......which explains a whole bundle of things about teenagers.......
The Greeks did not allow a citizen to vote until he was 30 years of age.
I think 18 is a very good compromise.........
I was interested in politics quite young........
When I was 16, I was reasonably well-read and aware (for a 16 year old)
I was also a Marxist.
Now, you have to lack one of two things to actually be a Marxist: brains, or life experience. I'll leave it to you to decide which was my problem, but the lack of either would not exactly promote responsible voting.......
No. We need voters with life experience..........if anything, I would see the age go back to 21. However, you can join the military at 18 and fight for your country, so it is only fair to allow the vote at that age as well.
I was interested in politics quite young........
When I was 16, I was reasonably well-read and aware (for a 16 year old)
I was also a Marxist.
Colpy, my son (he is 25) used to be an NDP supporter, now he is a card carrying member of the Liberal Party. My hope is that he stops there and not move further to the right. I am a Liberal Party supporter myself (though I am not a member).
When I was 16, I was reasonably well-read and aware (for a 16 year old)
I was also a Marxist.
Colpy, my son (he is 25) used to be an NDP supporter, now he is a card carrying member of the Liberal Party. My hope is that he stops there and not move further to the right. I am a Liberal Party supporter myself (though I am not a member).
Yes, and he got thrashed by Johnson in 1964. The only landslide win by a Democrat in recent memory.
Yep, the first truely effective TV campaign add......the little girl with the mushroom cloud.....a little unfair to Goldwater, as they were both very good candidates.....something like McCain and Obama.
LBJ was a tragic figure....he could have been a truely great President.......but all the good he did (Civil Rights legislation especially, but also social legislation) was credited to JFK, and he was left with the Vietnam legacy.........
I admire LBJ, he is one of my favourite Presidential characters.
Why would any sane person support ANY political party UNLESS he/she was going to run so he/she can get his/her snout in the trough? There is no political party that really helps the individual and definitely not for any sustained period of time.
I went from (non-voting: too young) Marxist, to NDP voter, to non-voter as a protest, to the PCs (one vote only; 1984) to a card-carrying member of Reform, the Canadian Alliance, and now the CPC.
You will notice there is one major party I skipped over in my political development........no wonder we don't agree on much......:smile:
(Non voting:too young) Social democrat, to NDP voter to Liberal Voter. I must admit to a short loss of mental stability when I voted for Randy White for 2 terms.
Where does the Charter say that only informed voters get to have a voice?
I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy. If the legislators wanted to weed out uninformed voters (which they obviously don't,) they could use other methods like informed consent criteria, or skill testing questions.
Yep, the first truely effective TV campaign add......the little girl with the mushroom cloud.....a little unfair to Goldwater, as they were both very good candidates.....something like McCain and Obama.
LBJ was a tragic figure....he could have been a truely great President.......but all the good he did (Civil Rights legislation especially, but also social legislation) was credited to JFK, and he was left with the Vietnam legacy.........
I admire LBJ, he is one of my favourite Presidential characters.
I totally agree with you about LBJ. I think he was one of the greatest Presidents of the last century, but his contributions have largely gone unacknowledged (I won’t say unnoticed, most of the Great Society programs he put in place are still around).
What is remarkable about the great Society programs is that it needed bipartisan support. While Democrats had the majority in both houses, Senators and Congressmen from the South were very conservative, even more conservative than Republicans. Southern Democrats were probably the most conservative members of the Congress. This was before Nixon’s southern strategy, where he moved the party sharply to the right, to garner the votes of the Bible Belt.
Southern Democrats were strongly opposed to anything Johnson wanted to do. So, many Republicans had to vote for the Great Society programs, otherwise they wouldn’t have passed. Indeed, proportionately more republicans voted for the Civil Rights legislation than Democrats did.
Johnson had to bring Republicans on board, get bipartisan support for his legislations and he did a great job of it. But as you say, Vietnam war swamped everything. Too bad he is not more appreciated.
Why do we have to join or support any party, all they do is call you for financial support all the time. When you get in that voting booth, just vote the candidate of your choice. Political parties are just various corporate agencies, clubs call it what you may trying to get support for their personal agendas, and if their not big enough you have wasted time,money and vote.
PS: LBJ was a Great President and history is and will prove it so.
PS: LBJ was a Great President and history is and will prove it so.
Absolutely, they are just a white collar alternative to the likes of the Hell's Angels and Red Scorpions.
This statement bugs me and pretty much epitomizes what I see wrong in Canadian politics. I'm 40 years old and have been following our politics/current events since it was a class that was really pushed by my 5th grade teacher, who truly believed in getting people to at least try to keep up with what was happening around us (we had Joe Clark's minority win and a provincial election that year to focus on, as well). When I look at the PMs we have had in that time, most of them have been dictatorial and tried to push their agendas: Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien had the majorities to get away with it. Our elections were trips to the polls every 4-5 years to elect the next dictator.
People keep on Harper but in reality our minority parliaments have ensured that he and Martin were the most accountable in at least a generation, if not longer. I'm not saying Harper would be any different if he was afforded that same majority, but lets not delude ourselves into thinking Ignatieff or (gods forbid) Layton would either. I would love to see the partisan boundaries crumble and see parties be more temporary alliances (like the English parliament in the 1800's) than the monolithic power blocks of today, as I think that would re-energize the system: more emphasis would be on individual candidates and the wishes of their constituents rather than the current leaders. But I also am enough of a pragmatist to know the power brokers of today would never allow this to happen.
wulfie68,
More accurately, I should have said, democracy has become a brain dead religion. The power brokers are the corporate giants who dictate government policy. Proof of that is in all these corporate bailouts. That is why I say, trash the system and build one that represents people. All we ever get to vote for are corporate stooges sold to us by the corporate media.
More accurately, I should have said, democracy has become a brain dead religion. The power brokers are the corporate giants who dictate government policy. Proof of that is in all these corporate bailouts. That is why I say, trash the system and build one that represents people. All we ever get to vote for are corporate stooges sold to us by the corporate media.