Comments on: Not even president, but already damaging our foreign relations… https://habitablezone.com/2016/06/02/not-even-president-but-already-damaging-our-foreign-relations/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2016/06/02/not-even-president-but-already-damaging-our-foreign-relations/#comment-36684 ER Fri, 03 Jun 2016 22:24:56 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=57940#comment-36684 Federalism, "Local Control", "limiting the franchise", "tyranny of the majority", "the best government is small government". The oligarchs and the plutocrats like their government small and nearby so they can control it. I have faith in democracy, but it is not perfect and it is not foolproof. Even the inventors, Athens in the Golden Age, learned that lesson the hard way. Federalism, “Local Control”, “limiting the franchise”, “tyranny of the majority”, “the best government is small government”. The oligarchs and the plutocrats like their government small and nearby so they can control it.

I have faith in democracy, but it is not perfect and it is not foolproof. Even the inventors, Athens in the Golden Age, learned that lesson the hard way.

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2016/06/02/not-even-president-but-already-damaging-our-foreign-relations/#comment-36683 mcfly Fri, 03 Jun 2016 19:51:11 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=57940#comment-36683 ...Americans. People aren't smart. People don't make wise choices, not even necessarily choices in their own self-interest. Look at all the dumb, poverty-stricken white trash that rails against Obamacare because that's what they've been told to do. Democracy has been used by humanity to inflict all manner of pain on ourselves, and is currently threatening us with a Trump presidency. Maybe democracy was just another apple in paradise. …Americans.

People aren’t smart. People don’t make wise choices, not even necessarily choices in their own self-interest. Look at all the dumb, poverty-stricken white trash that rails against Obamacare because that’s what they’ve been told to do.

Democracy has been used by humanity to inflict all manner of pain on ourselves, and is currently threatening us with a Trump presidency. Maybe democracy was just another apple in paradise.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2016/06/02/not-even-president-but-already-damaging-our-foreign-relations/#comment-36681 ER Fri, 03 Jun 2016 13:39:05 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=57940#comment-36681 We may not like how it came out, but as Robert pointed out in an earlier post, this election is a referendum for the American people. It is a choice between two opposing philosophies, and a contest between two irreconcilable ways of viewing the world. As long as the Presidential election is an honest one, we are bound to accept the results. Again, as Robert pointed out, democracy means we are free to make our own mistakes, just like you can't be a real grown-up until you leave home and make it on your own. Right now, I see the election as possibly going either way. It will be close, and there is a good chance either Hillary or The Donald will be in the White House. The checks and balances may help mitigate the worst excesses of the chief executive, but basically this election will decide what kind of country we will live in for the rest of our lives, and what kind of people will run it. If we don't like the result, there are democratic ways to fight the new order, there is no guarantee they will work, and they may even be dangerous, but even if we resist, let us not choose the path of treachery, obstruction, sabotage and blackmail, justifying it by appealing to our faith in a superior partisan philosophy. Maybe I'm just a wishy-washy Liberal, but if this one doesn't turn out the way I'd like it to, then so be it. Providing the election isn't rigged, the people will have spoken. We may not like how it came out, but as Robert pointed out in an earlier post, this election is a referendum for the American people. It is a choice between two opposing philosophies, and a contest between two irreconcilable ways of viewing the world. As long as the Presidential election is an honest one, we are bound to accept the results.

Again, as Robert pointed out, democracy means we are free to make our own mistakes, just like you can’t be a real grown-up until you leave home and make it on your own. Right now, I see the election as possibly going either way. It will be close, and there is a good chance either Hillary or The Donald will be in the White House. The checks and balances may help mitigate the worst excesses of the chief executive, but basically this election will decide what kind of country we will live in for the rest of our lives, and what kind of people will run it.

If we don’t like the result, there are democratic ways to fight the new order, there is no guarantee they will work, and they may even be dangerous, but even if we resist, let us not choose the path of treachery, obstruction, sabotage and blackmail, justifying it by appealing to our faith in a superior partisan philosophy. Maybe I’m just a wishy-washy Liberal, but if this one doesn’t turn out the way I’d like it to, then so be it.

Providing the election isn’t rigged, the people will have spoken.

]]>