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On November 04 2010 06:09 domovoi wrote:
Actually, the US never talks about politics outside of the US (I had no idea how parliamentary systems worked until I had to do a presentation on it "for work"). And foreign countries talk about US politics all the time, which is why US approval rates worldwide went up so dramatically after Obama's election. The US political system gets the most press coverage by far.
Finally, that video was made in Taiwan, it's a little awkward to call it China.
Yeah i was gonna point that out, it's a Taiwanese company that makes a bunch of videos like that.
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On November 04 2010 06:35 domovoi wrote:Show nested quote +And there is one thing I will never understand : everyone (well or almost) can carry guns and then they wonder why criminality is so high (common... if no one carry them, then no one can shoot with them, seems intuitive and it works). But well, some things takes time to change. Criminality is higher in jurisdictions with very strong gun control. It has more to do with minorities and poverty than guns. Gun control in the US is probably tighter than in Switzerland, actually. Don't you all get a gun after service?
No we don't, or actually not anymore , but it was (and is still) illegal to possess bullets with it and its illegal to actually carry it (you have to store it somewhere). Only cops (and soldiers) are allowed to carry guns (well and hunters, but its restricted). It is very rare to have a crime with a gun in switzerland.
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On November 04 2010 06:43 Liveon wrote:
What is this 'service' you speak of?
Switzerland has compulsory military service.
Anyway, American politics are quite interesting. But it's an idol contest and that sucks. Don't really see a lot of changes if another person gets the power in America. Obama had nice speeches, but you americans seem so stupid to not give him at least another two years or so? I mean, what can you actually accomplish in such a large country in only two years? Why are the republicans as stupid as the so called 'left parties' here in the Netherlands?
Obama's still the President for two more years.
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On November 04 2010 06:43 Liveon wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 06:35 domovoi wrote:And there is one thing I will never understand : everyone (well or almost) can carry guns and then they wonder why criminality is so high (common... if no one carry them, then no one can shoot with them, seems intuitive and it works). But well, some things takes time to change. Criminality is higher in jurisdictions with very strong gun control. It has more to do with minorities and poverty than guns. Gun control in the US is probably tighter than in Switzerland, actually. Don't you all get a gun after service? What is this 'service' you speak of? Anyway, American politics are quite interesting. But it's an idol contest and that sucks. Don't really see a lot of changes if another person gets the power in America. Obama had nice speeches, but you americans seem so stupid to not give him at least another two years or so? I mean, what can you actually accomplish in such a large country in only two years? Why are the republicans as stupid as the so called 'left parties' here in the Netherlands?
Lol. Just lol.
Edit:
The point is, dont call people stupid when you yourself obviously dont know anything about the subject.
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a large population supports sarah palin
that basically sums it up
although my city just elected rob ford
so i think canadian politics are approaching the level of the USA
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On November 04 2010 06:43 Liveon wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 06:35 domovoi wrote:And there is one thing I will never understand : everyone (well or almost) can carry guns and then they wonder why criminality is so high (common... if no one carry them, then no one can shoot with them, seems intuitive and it works). But well, some things takes time to change. Criminality is higher in jurisdictions with very strong gun control. It has more to do with minorities and poverty than guns. Gun control in the US is probably tighter than in Switzerland, actually. Don't you all get a gun after service? What is this 'service' you speak of? Anyway, American politics are quite interesting. But it's an idol contest and that sucks. Don't really see a lot of changes if another person gets the power in America. Obama had nice speeches, but you americans seem so stupid to not give him at least another two years or so? I mean, what can you actually accomplish in such a large country in only two years? Why are the republicans as stupid as the so called 'left parties' here in the Netherlands?
He was speaking about the mandatory military service.
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On November 04 2010 06:05 SichuanPanda wrote:
Living in Canada I see all of the US news and politics, and I'll tell you right now the way I and most Canadians see US politics is quite simple - generally the same as ours, except the campaigns run for eons *when compared to a Canadian campaign*. Most campaigns here are about 1-3 months depending on election type, in the US it seems as though the campaigning goes on for about 18 months.
But during the last a few years, we had an election almost every single year. It's a trade off, I guess/
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Let me just put it this way: Everything good, bad, and UGLY you hear about American politics are probably true.
Now if you'll excuse me, I got tears of sadness in my eyes.
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Its nice to see that hate permeates through international borders. It must be nice to stereotype half of the US as stupid and religious bigots. *sigh*
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Lol a lot of people don't seem to understand the showmen ship and pageantry that goes into the democratic republic that is America. Granted it has gotten much worse sense the 70's but major media hasn't really covered the issues and government properly sense the vietman war.
I'm guessing what most people see is america's far left and far right. And not the large fairly reasonable people that make up the center. Because the center doesn't make interesting shows.
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On November 04 2010 06:45 domovoi wrote:Switzerland has compulsory military service. Show nested quote +Anyway, American politics are quite interesting. But it's an idol contest and that sucks. Don't really see a lot of changes if another person gets the power in America. Obama had nice speeches, but you americans seem so stupid to not give him at least another two years or so? I mean, what can you actually accomplish in such a large country in only two years? Why are the republicans as stupid as the so called 'left parties' here in the Netherlands? Obama's still the President for two more years.
He's talking about the next two years with a majority republican congress to block his work.
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As a citizen of a country which is a welfare state and which has a wide spectrum of parties from socialist parties to right-wing parties, I find the American political system (maybe because of my lack of knowledge) silly.
The fact that there are only 2 parties in the congress just makes it feel like it would be just a one party show (the party who has the majority in the congress). I don't know how it works and if it does work well. It's just that I really can't fit that into my log. In Finland the cabinet usually has 3 or 4 parties in once and it could even have the Socialdemocratic party and the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus in Finnish) in the same cabinet so there wont be just one party going with all the decisions.
The one other question I have is the fact that socialism is still the devil of ideologies in the USA. Is it because of the capitalistic culture or just a shadow of the USSR? I would love for an answer for these questions by an american, because I've been puzzled with them for a while now.
I could have a twisted view of the US politics because of the media. The media in Europe has really tried to stereotype the democrats as the reasonable and modern party and the republicans as the hillbilly party that is living in the 19th century.
I would probably be a democrat if I had to choose though.
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Here is my viewpoint as a non-white, upper-class, right-of-center American:
The campaign season is way too long, I wish it was more like the British and Canadian systems where campaigning is like 3 months. I like the comparisons with American Idol; it's basically a beauty contest with a large helping of sports-like "my team versus yours" thrown in. It is a spectacle where rhetoric is encouraged to rile up the local fanbase. Think about how crazy people can get over a football match; that's how campaign season is.
Once the campaign season is over, however, things tend to mellow out way more. Because of the vagaries of the winner-take-all, two-party system, a lot of cross-aisle discussions need to take place to get any legislation passed. Note that any legislation must get through committee, so discussions and compromises are made between a handful of politicians. I've seen "Ask the PM" and I've seen Taiwanese politicians go at it. I'd say our political discourse is pretty tame compared to that.
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GIVE US THE REAL FOOTAGE FROM MOON LANDING!!!! WE DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!!
User was warned for this post
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On November 04 2010 06:54 muse5187 wrote:
He's talking about the next two years with a majority republican congress to block his work.
We'll see, you may be surprised. Clinton was able to do a lot with an opposing Congress.
Also, most Americans and foreigners don't actually realize this, but the Executive branch (i.e. Obama) controls a ton of policy, because it controls the state apparatus and regulations.
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On November 04 2010 06:56 KOPF wrote:
As a citizen of a country which is a welfare state and which has a wide spectrum of parties from socialist parties to right-wing parties, I find the American political system (maybe because of my lack of knowledge) silly.
The fact that there are only 2 parties in the congress just makes it feel like it would be just a one party show (the party who has the majority in the congress). I don't know how it works and if it does work well. It's just that I really can't fit that into my log. In Finland the cabinet usually has 3 or 4 parties in once and it could even have the Socialdemocratic party and the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus in Finnish) in the same cabinet so there wont be just one party going with all the decisions.
The one other question I have is the fact that socialism is still the devil of ideologies in the USA. Is it because of the capitalistic culture or just a shadow of the USSR? I would love for an answer for these questions by an american, because I've been puzzled with them for a while now.
I could have a twisted view of the US politics because of the media. The media in Europe has really tried to stereotype the democrats as the reasonable and modern party and the republicans as the hillbilly party that is living in the 19th century.
I would probably be a democrat if I had to choose though.
For your first question just use wiki lol. Second question, I think a lot of the older generation still remembers the cold war and other shit they dealt with (the USSR). Parents always talk about practicing hiding under desks at school in case the Russian's nukes them. Lots of propaganda went on, and still does.
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Basically, since you have about 50% voting a lot of people dont take your "democracy" very seriously
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American's are dumb.
All the Europeans here can agree.
Yesterday, there was a big vote and there were a lot of open seats in the house/senate. Guess what, Republicans take the house with ease, and almost take the Senate.
For some reason Republicans have the cash to spend millions on ads, (Which we see constantly on television) and 97% of their campaign donations are from millionaires and billionaires. Tell me, who do the Republicans represent? Not the middle class. I can't believe how idiotic Americans are, 2 years after the worst 8 years of a downward sloap, they elect the same people that got into that mess. The Republicans themselves said their agenda wouldn't change from the Bush administration.
I find it funny how hypocritical Republicans are, they say they want to cut down on government size and spending, but that same government invades 2 countries in 8 years. When the oil spill happened, they went to the government to fix it.
REPUBLICANS WERE AGAINST PUTTING BP UNDER OATH IN COURT- I MEAN COME ON, WHO DO THEY REPRESENT? The rich people. They're constantly hammering how the top 2% of Americas richest need a tax cut? LOL, they don't even spend their money so the economy wouldn't get better if the rich got one.
TL;DR= Dumb ass Americans vote in the rich white politicians again hoping that things will get better with them in the house/senate.
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On November 04 2010 06:40 domovoi wrote:Hm, a lot of misconceptions about American policy. Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 06:33 Tufas wrote:
100 % of my friends and colleagues agree : How can you be against socialism. It is one of the great human achievements. HCR, best thing in the world. You need to help those who cannot help themselves. Wealth does not trickle down, nor ever will it. Wealth does trickle down, see the 1970s supply-side recession for an example. But anyway, the US has Medicare, Medicaid and now ACA. Not many European countries allow gay marriage, last I checked. America has looser abortion standards than much of Europe. Show nested quote +And : Religion has nothing to do with politics. Try to keep it out of it. God bless America. Well, tell god to go and bless your family. The country as a whole is not religious, you are. Or not.b Religion has as much to do with politics as any other ideology; them's the facts of life.
1. Talking about the reformation, as far as I know (or am informed) there are some mayor flaws.
Even if 50% of your personal wealth would actually "trickle" down which is highly improbable , there can still be billions of dollars in private funds, not invested, never going back into the economy.
2. True, for now only Belgium Iceland Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain and Sweden.
Registerd partnerships in : Austria Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Ireland Luxembourg Slowenia Switzerland and the United Kingdom and most of the countrys with gay marriage allready on their way or in the process of bringing it into their laws.
3. This was (maybe not stated clearly enough as I can see) against a great fraction of people who still think that abortion is bad and needs to be banned. I do not know a protest of this proportion in the E.U. (not europe, as I am not that good informed about some countrys in europe).
4. Well I beg to differ. I dont want my time wasted by politicians who speak abour religion .. we might have to fight with our fists here. Well, I am saddend when I hear that ultra right wing catholics ( just an example) go out and protest against this and that for in the bible it says this and that... it really makes me wanna cry. But as long as this is accepted policy, nothing will change.
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EPT
