democracy question

[Da Skinna]

Is there a connection between the people who think it's pointless to even think of voting for one candidate in a democratic election because of their poll numbers, background, affiliations or what mass media and/or pundits say about them, and the voting outcome as a whole?

To me, it seems a lot of good is being undermined by the attitude that is self-inflicted on the political culture. This attitude spreads, and there seems to be a goaded imposition of a way of thinking about what we value, a direction of thought that affects decisions made in the voting booths and as a whole when regarding candidates.

Do we today look for past misgrievances like divorces, drug use, and things commonly associated with machismo, masculinity, like hunting or if they watch the national sport in their spare time?

Or could we look at what education they have, what past experiences with the profession and position they hold. Qualifications, suffice to say. Rather than looking at aspects of the individual that in the end seem a bit trivial and almost entirely irrelevant to their job, people could be looking at what makes the best person for the job. Just as a chief-of-staff does, so could the people.

You see, looking at candidates and politicians personal lives and details is a way of asking people to ask a very personal question of what they (the individual) value, and finding something different than their own in another person who is being given such a lofty place, as we could guess, makes people more critical. It's trying to impose values on the best candidate by vote.

So, my question, and I can elaborate on any point here further, is:

Is there a connection between a certain discreetly encouraged attitude and the outcome of an election?

And do people sometimes vote in contradiction of their best interests?

[removeduser_487563287433]

Well... the major problem with democracy is that the vast swathe of people in this world are incredibly stupid pricks that you wouldn't even consent to sit at the same table with, let alone give the responsibility of a vote.

So yes, what politicians are does matter. US Presidential candidates spend months cultivating a fine mane of tall hair and covering up their youthful adventures as a wealthy sodomiser of the daughters of their father's constituents.

To an extent... this is defendable. You do not want an alcoholic or drug abuser in government... you do not want a man who has a history of reckless and selfish cruelty. But what actually happens is politicians making terrible excuses involving inhaling and cigars over things that are non-matters.

It seems people are unwilling to accept the truth that politicians, like all humanity, are great apes in suits, smelling intently for the next lump of flesh they can mount and ****.

[Kanaric]

US Presidential candidates spend months cultivating a fine mane of tall hair and covering up their youthful adventures as a wealthy sodomiser of the daughters of their father's constituents.

Don't forget :wub: in coffins at the bottom of Yale mausoleums while reciting their first sexual escapade as well. Something our good christian president has done. Along with a few lines to go with it of course.

[Paggers]

Don't forget :wub: in coffins at the bottom of Yale mausoleums while reciting their first sexual escapade as well. Something our good christian president has done. Along with a few lines to go with it of course.

Wasn't this before he became a born again Christian?
What I really mean is that people change.
Ferrets54, that's a really depressing post you've made, mainly because it's all true.
There is a certain leading of the electorate.
In the UK there's still a dispute as to how Neil Kinnock lost the 1992 election, some say it was his valedictory rally at Don Valley stadium whilst others maintain it was the headlines in the Sun on polling day, "Will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights" or some such variation.

[Chlodwig I.]

Hasn't Churchill said somethink like:
the best argument against Democracy is a conversation with the average voter?

And some other wise guy said that each Democracy gets the Government it deserves?




if you vote a person shouldn't you know if he's a crook?

[rathelios]

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.
Alan Coren

[Kanaric]

Wasn't this before he became a born again Christian?
What I really mean is that people change.
Ferrets54, that's a really depressing post you've made, mainly because it's all true.
There is a certain leading of the electorate.
In the UK there's still a dispute as to how Neil Kinnock lost the 1992 election, some say it was his valedictory rally at Don Valley stadium whilst others maintain it was the headlines in the Sun on polling day, "Will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights" or some such variation.

No they don't change, all these people who went to Yale have done this no matter WHO they are. If he was born again or not by then he still would of done it.

Being part of skull and bones guarantees to much for a person for them to avoid it. Plus I can't believe anyone believe this "born again christian" propaganda. He doesn't even go to church except on special occasions. Its just a tool he used, like most politicians do, to get elected. Just like his "no nation building" idea.

[Bovril]

This is one of the major reasons why the choice establishment politics offers is so much more limitted that the comparitively diverse range of opinion in your average democracy.

[Paggers]

No they don't change, all these people who went to Yale have done this no matter WHO they are. If he was born again or not by then he still would of done it.

Being part of skull and bones guarantees to much for a person for them to avoid it. Plus I can't believe anyone believe this "born again christian" propaganda. He doesn't even go to church except on special occasions. Its just a tool he used, like most politicians do, to get elected. Just like his "no nation building" idea.

Well, you know more about him than I do. After all he's your President not mine.

[haney591]

The difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that in a dictatorship you know your getting screwed, in a democracy you think you're screwing yourself.

[Bokks]

Don't forget :wub: in coffins at the bottom of Yale mausoleums while reciting their first sexual escapade as well. Something our good christian president has done. Along with a few lines to go with it of course.

Don't forget mud-wrestling nude while drinking the urine of spectators.

Seriously, I highly doubt that all the rumors of the Skull and Bones society are particluarly well founded. And don't forget that Clinton was in the society as well... as were most of the presidents we've had in the last 30 years.
It's like the new-age Freemasons or something... except much more related to the Gormogon society than anything.

Anyway, democracy tends to shoot itself in the foot, but it's tendency to do so is part of its charm. We elect leaders based on a myriad of facts about them, the US republic is instated and designed to protect itself from a particularly horrid person as president, and then the American public tend to vote in people that have a clean or understandable personal record, even if they're not the best administrators. Seriously, though, when have the two not went hand in hand?
I would prefer much less malicious slander when it comes to the actual elections, but even that has its place.
I would say, though, that many of you are underestimating your own people. Yes, a general education requirement would be nice, but wholly it makes little difference, and somehow the best person always does get vted in for the job.
Can you imagine Gore as president during 9/11? He certianly wouldn't have been reading a book to kids in Florida at the time, more than like he'd have been presiding over an ELF rally to burn a suburbs in support of a tree.
Well, that was malicious slander but on my part, but true!

[RusskiSoldat]

The difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that in a dictatorship you know your getting screwed, in a democracy you think you're screwing yourself.

Good. People need to be held responsible for their actions.