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If authoritarianism will solve this country's problems, will you support it?
XX55XX
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Registered User regular
Like many, I have grown disgruntled by the constant bickering in Congress. Those idiots (both Democratic and Republican) can't achieve anything. Republicans keep blocking the President's proposals to help fix this country. We are wasting more time arguing and debating than we are solving actual problems.
My question is: Would you like to see a country without Congress? With fewer elections? A country where the President, under the oversight of a governmental committee, enacts and executes certain laws deemed to have a potentially positive effect on the country?
I personally would like to see a system of mild authoritarianism (fashioned on China's model) come to force into the United States, if it will solve our problems. Let the President have a ten year term and allow him to do whatever he/she can to fix the country.
My question is: Would you like to see a country without Congress? With fewer elections? A country where the President, under the oversight of a governmental committee, enacts and executes certain laws deemed to have a potentially positive effect on the country?
I personally would like to see a system of mild authoritarianism (fashioned on China's model) come to force into the United States, if it will solve our problems. Let the President have a ten year term and allow him to do whatever he/she can to fix the country.
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Exactly. But that person must be a completely wholesome and incorruptible to be President.
We can use the currently available democratic process to generate such change.
No no no.
No.
No.
I vote for Batman. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.
Hyper-Intelligent Dragon 2012, Change You Probably Can't Believe In.
Elections?
The problem with the United States isn't that we have too much democracy. It's that the powerful have gamed the system so that there's not enough.
From what I hear, he's the president we deserve.
Any oversight committee, given less power than the President, would be suborned by his authority and made useless.
Any oversight committee, given more power than the President, would succumb to the same infighting as the Congress we have now, and made useless.
The idea of unilateral powers makes the phrase "term limit" something of a joke.
Look, of course the best system of government is a benevolent dictatorship*--when the King is good, long live the King. The problem is when the King is an asshole, that system of government leaves you with no easy way out. Representative democracy is the best way to ensure that, over time, the system can be used to correct any problems.
Also, in order to completely dismantle the government and hand the reigns over to a single dictatorial figure in a democratic fashion, you'd have to get the public educated, agitated, and voting for your point of view--in which case, why not just get them to light a fire under the current government? Our system has problems, but what allows them to fester is the apathy and the ignorance of the public. Fix that and you'll be in much better shape than just cutting them out of the process entirely.
Edit: In the interests of accuracy, this is the second-best system of government. The best system of government is a benevolent robocracy. All hail Multivac!
The powerful have gamed the system to such an extent that the only way to save it is to get rid of it.
Conversely, America is split by a host of different social groups with different mores, values and aspirations. Democracy, barely, keeps them from killing each other. They're not going to put up with authoritarianism for a decade, much less for two if the election is a squeaker.
Your Benevolent American Dictator is eventually going to have to have to repress or kill a lot of people to stay in power. I can't imagine that's a great economic stimulator.
But maybe not the one we need right now.
So we'll chase him.
Yeah, sorry, Dr. Doom, but no. You need to hire some better people for the Latverian immigration publicity campaign.
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Rats! Hope they don't find out I'm Sinestro...
Despite all of the economic problems this country has faced, we have not seen street protests on the scale that is currently occurring in Europe. Most Americans are more docile than you give them credit for. Despite four years of economic stagnation, there has yet to be a serious act of social upheaval threatening order in this country, like in Greece, for example.
The poster quoted is right. People must be educated that a benevolent dictatorship will bring an unparalleled amount of efficiency to the government's decision-making process. However, given that things are not as bad as they are in Europe, I don't think Americans will be agitated enough to demand change in the system anytime soon.
Oh, well problem solved then.
Also, all we need to solve the energy crisis is an infinite supply of free energy! Another problem solved!
They'll put their fingers on the scale, sure, but not every elite group in history are complete fucking morons. We just happen to have a bunch that seems to think they can get away with fucking everyone else forever.
Smart elites make sure that their people are well cared for and happy. Stupid elites decide that the "free market" has it under control, so they don't even have to pretend to bother.
I'm not sure how making one of them dictator for a decade is going to help that any.
Elites in America tend to be incredibly stupid people who simply have the right connections due to having ruthless ancestors.
Not sure what your point is - 'Things aren't as bad here as in Europe so people aren't agitating for change here as much as in Europe.' ?
Give it time.
There's this strange belief that Americans are some new kind of homo sapiens. The truth is that a lot of people are still comfortable, if scared, and they aren't going to make drastic actions. Americans are losing faith in their government, but the nation still has a lot of faith that it's leaders will figure something out.
The American government has provided a massive amount of peace and security for a long time. Unlike the Europeans, we don't have a living memory of our leaders going batshit insane. For all my frustrations with it, "apathy" is not an entirely irrational condition. It served most Americans quite well for their and their parents and their grandparents lives.
If this goes on for another decade, with more generations growing up not knowing the "real" America and more 20th century survivors dying off, things are going to get bad.
Alternatively, stop electing Republicans.
http://io9.com/5862450/americans-are-freakishly-optimistic
There above was an interesting story making a neat point about the inherent optimism within America in general. As a teenager I used to think people would get to a point where they can't stand it anymore, but as I get older I see that America as a whole will not change drastically without horrific acts against it. The trouble being that in the end, the only "evil" dictator types we'd get in power are the types that would let capitalism reign free without regulation to "better the economy." The type that would take power and keep all the safety nets just wouldn't slide given the overall optimism of Americans believing that things will work out for the best without someone telling them what to do. All that ends up with is corporations dictating what people receive throughout the economy and a greater inequality, which no one in charge would be able to alter enough to help.