Is there any point in posting in the politics topic at the moment?

@BlueVeins The Greeks might take issue with that. And so would some pedantic Republicans who might remind you that America is not in fact a Democracy, but a Republic. As for Powerful, I think we really have to careful how that is defined..It isnt 1980 any more..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman

@BlueVeins no you’re not the oldest democracy

San Marino claims to be the oldest constitutional republic in the world, founded on 3 September 301, by Marinus of Rab, a Christian stonemason fleeing the religious persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian. San Marino's constitution, dating back to 1600, is the world's oldest written constitution still in effect.

@Thinkerbell I cant argue with you. America is slidin' (still) under Biden, as it did under Trump, and Obama, and Bush, and Clinton, and Bush, etc, etc, etc.
Its no secret I dont like Trump. But there is stuff in there I cant even blame him for. All the rest were just "politicians" looking for shortcuts and the easy way out so it didnt happen on their watch..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Greece has only been a democracy since like 1800s. Some Greek city states were before that point, but not Greece as a whole in a continuous lineage.


A pedantic and wrong Republican, at that. The US is a democratic republic, which is the exact same thing as a representative democracy.


Yeah, and the US stands head and shoulders above every other country on earth in terms of economics, diplomacy, and military strength. The PRC has a larger GDP in purchasing power parity, but definitely not more money just to burn; a ton of that shit is necessary to fund their way larger population and hulking surveillance state. Also, they're probably lying to some extent. The EU or China could one day become more powerful, but as of now, it's really no question.

@Ryderbike I suppose so. I didn't know that, thank you for sharing.

@BlueVeins "The US is a democratic republic, which is the exact same thing as a representative democracy." Sorry. It just isnt. A Republic can have a democratic platform to elect its leaders. But the nature and foundation of the electoral college disqualifies the Presidential election as democrat, as was very well explored in the 2020 election..Then there is the way the college votes are spread among the states.
" and the US stands head and shoulders above every other country on earth in terms of economics, diplomacy, and military strength." Up to a point yes. But how long will the nature survive without imports in the event of a war? How well will it function if it had to settle all its accounts tomorrow? And while you wouldnt compare the two, I cant help noting how military might isnt the answer for Russia in the Ukraine. The battle of the battlefield controls the day. A US Supercarrier is a mighty threat to a smaller lesser armed Foe. But to an enemy with advanced missile tech its a multi billion $ sitting duck target the US cant afford to risk. Americas military is set up to beat small foes into the ground. But has been notoriously poor at winning the peace afterward. So how "Great" they are is questionable. And I question.😷

@whowasthatmaskedman “A representative democracy, where the right of election is well secured and regulated & the exercise of the legislative, executive and judiciary authorities, is vested in select persons, chosen really and not nominally by the people, will in my opinion be most likely to be happy, regular and durable.” Alexander Hamilton

@Ryderbike And he may be correct. But its still not a democracy. Not unless everyone not disqualified has at least the option to vote and that vote has an equal value to every other vote..
I think we are really nit picking each other here.. I am certainly right in the definition. But there are equally good reasons why the founding Fathers. (Note no Founding mothers) did what they did. A Further questiopn is whether the stone they set the rules in has not crumbled to dust two and a half centuries later, with mass communication and advances in social norms.
We have gone from an age of ignorance for the vast majority, through an age of enlightenment to the internet age of the deliberately ignorant..I'm not sure Democracy still works with the old rules...😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
Being a democracy doesn't literally mean every leader is elected by 51% of the votes; if so, that'd also disqualify parliamentary systems. In the US, the leaders we vote on our electors, who in turn vote on Presidents. We just don't really think of electors as people anymore because they're no longer supposed to act that way.


Every country has become more vulnerable to economic disruptions thanks to globalization, but the US is unusually resistant to this threat for a variety of reasons:

1. The US is capable of exerting overwhelming control of international waters with its giant navy
2. Most countries in the world are US allies, and are therefore unlikely to sanction it
3. The US is a big producer of oil, food, and steel -- all resources which would help it last longer if cut off from the rest of the world.
4. The US is absolutely gigantic, which akes self reliance generally more feasible (albeit still very difficult).

If I were gonna be in any country during a collapse of global trade, I'd easily choose the US.


Supercarriers have missile defense systems, and are designed to be tough to target from a distance. Granted, we don't know what weird shit the Chinese might've cooked up and it's possible they have something that could blow up those carriers, but the same could be said of the US military. I do suspect that it's an operational risk, but I sorta doubt that it's as bad as you seem to think it is.


Not entirely false, but that's largely because we've spent so much time fighting non-state actors in failing countries. It's notoriously difficult to set up stable government institutions for another nation, especially if that nation hates you. But yeah, there are other countries which have shown more success in that department like France & the UK.


That's different from powerful though

@BlueVeins That's actually a matter of how it's measured.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/countries-are-the-worlds-oldest-democracies/

@whowasthatmaskedman a democracy means we vote for our leaders . Anytime you have the freedom to vote it’s called a democracy,