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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (165813)	7/11/2005 5:32:53 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Sorry to butt in, but I think I can shed some light on some of your questions: >> That something like 1/3rd of eligible voters in the US of A don't even bother to vote every few years shows their near complete lack of concern about who governs them. Is it ignorance, stupidity, laziness? Frankly, I think it's human nature. None of the above, well at least not the extent you seem to think of it. Why would anyone bother to vote if the issues that most matter to them is not represented by either candidate? In Take the Money and Run there is a scene in which two bank robber gangs hold up the same bank. The issue comes to a head and they ask the people to vote as to which group they want prefer to rob them...it was a fairly apt analogy of politics here. The differences between candidates is often marginal. How did Kerry for example differ with Bush on Iraq? >> Democracy requires individuals to think independently or it just reverts to autocracy. "Real" democracy can hardly work in population in excess of a 1000 people. The system will become just too complex for the average person to know all he'd need to know. On the other hand, a fairly decent hierarchical system with good checks and balances can be created...sadly we are far from it. >> Why don't the Chinese overthrow their government and install democracy? This is to a good extent because most Chinese support their government. This may sound strange to you, but unlike Eastern Europeans who hated the communists with passion, most Chinese are relatively content with the communists so far. For most people the issue is not "democracy" but prosperity. The communist party has done much for China and since its people are better off now than they were before Communism, there has been little reason to revolt so far. But on a more general framework, people do rebel against oppression all the time. It is just that every case is different and sometimes finding the right path and getting the right results takes time...I know this is not a convincing answer but to do a proper case study just takes too long...you may want to look at the history of empires, their conquered lands and how and why they lasted or fell as long as they did.