quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: My company offered me 100k for a six month stint in Afghanistan, I turned them down. It wasn't worth it after taxes.
You have proffered this lie in various forms so many times, and been confronted with its falsehood so many times, I wonder why you think it goes unnoticed.
Perhaps it was not worth it to you to work in Afghanistan for six months for that kind of money, but the proportion of taxes you would have payed could not possibly have made working for a lower wage more profitable. There are other obligations and expenses that might have made this choice unfavorable (living apart from your family is expensive for other reasons), but taxes aren't it. Yes, you earn more, you pay more tax, but at no point do you lose money simply by earning more. It doesn't work that way.
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quote:We aren't a democracy, we're a constitutional republic.
Maybe Samprimary (was it you, Samprimary?) could re-post that post you made about how stupid it is to say something like this as self-righteously as malanthrop is saying it? Suffice to say, the United States is both a democracy and a constitutional republic. The two are not mutually exclusive.
YAAY
UNSURPRISINGLY this is now a three chain of correcting malanthrop specifically.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: We aren't a democracy, we're a constitutional republic.
Hey lemme repost something I already said.
quote: Originally posted by Samprimary: When someone says something like "America is a republic, not a democracy!" they don't know what they're talking about. The statement is incorrect.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:We must reassert that America is a republic, not a democracy
We must reassert that my vehicle is a sedan, not an automobile!
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: Fortunately in America we have a represenatative republic.
Cool. Want to know something neat? We're also a democracy.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: The part about the US being a constitutional republic and not a democracy has merit.
The statement "the US is a republic" is as correct as "the US is a democracy" — anytime someone says that the US is not a democracy, they're wrong. What the US is not is a direct democracy.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by Raventhief: Samp, could you clarify? Because a democracy is a form of government in which the people legislate directly by vote while a republic is a form of government in which the people elect those who legislate.
You are confusing the general term "democracy" with the specific type of government known as a "direct democracy." You do not have to be a direct democracy in order to be considered a "democracy" or a "democratic nation."
The answer to the question "Is the united states a democracy?" is yes.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: The correct answer to the question "Is America a Democracy?" is "Yes."
The correct answer to the question "Is America a Republic?" is "Yes."
The correct answer to the question "Is America a Democratic Republic?" is "Yes."
If you say that America is not a democracy because it's a republic, or that it's not a democracy because it's not a 'true' (direct) democracy, this is wrong.
You might as well say that my Chevy Silverado is not a truck, because it is an automobile. Strangely enough, it's both, and you're correct to call it either!
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
The answer to the question "Is the United States a democracy?" is yes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. The term is not mutually exclusive nor contradictory to our status as a republic. If someone says that 'the United States is not a democracy,' they are strictly incorrect. It's like saying that a Dodge Ram is not an automobile because it is a truck.
The United States is a Democracy. The United States is a Republic. The United States is a Constitutional Republic. The United States is a democratic, constitutional republic. The United States is a representative democracy. Any of these statements is true. One thing that the United States is not is a specific form of democracy known as 'direct democracy.' The United States is not a direct democracy, but this does not make the united states 'not a democracy.'
Thanks for reading this. Totally glad that we have this straight now, yay.
sooooooooooooo everyone's got this straight now right, no more failing at english language to make a hamfisted political delineation, yeeeessss?
posted
You don't get it. Mal's argument was "Who represents the top 50% of tax payers."
See. Its not a democracy he's after, because the Republican's did such a great job of turning Liberal into a bad word, they want to do the same to Democracy because it sounds like Democratic. Its not really a Constitutional Republic he's after either.... its a Capitalist Monetacracy. Basically, we should all just be able to vote with our money.
Mal--in this country it shouldn't matter at all how much money you have, how much you spend, or how much you pay in taxes. You still get 1 vote.
Tyranny is not created by the government, its created by people. Al Capone was a tyrant. The war lords in chaotic Somalia are tyrants. The head of the Klu Klux Klan is a tyrant, and yes, the head of many corporations are unabashed and successful tyrants.
The Government is not the only sin in this world. Corruption and stupidity and ignorance rank far higher.
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