noteworthy wrote:
] flynn23 wrote:
] ] When Decius asks "how democratic is your country?" you can
] ] look at this article and answer "not very".
] ]
] ] This just highlights the divisiveness of our current society
]
] ] even more. Without a blurring of two extremes, we will never
]
] ] truly unite and accomplish much. The current presidential
] ] election is not about ideology as much as it's about
] ] execution. If we truly want choice, and we truly want to
] ] fashion policies that are considerate of reality, then we've
]
] ] GOT to bring more than two extremes to the table.
]
] What do you mean by "two extremes"? If you look at the
] Political Compass map, you'll see that Bush and Kerry are in
] the same quadrant -- Authoritarian Right. They're practically
] the same.
]
] http://www.politicalcompass.org/
]
] You correctly point out that the current election is about
] execution. That's because they don't really have substantive
] ideological differences.
]
] We have no "uniting" left to do. If you think we are
] gridlocked now, when Republicans and Democrats in Congress
] have to agree on a budget, just imagine trying to get Bush and
] Cobb to reach a compromise on a spending bill.

When I say "uniting", I'm talking about the people, not the political parties which claim to represent them. Citizens in this country are polarized against each other because we have an "us versus them" attitude about this election. The choices available don't represent the reality of the situation, that there are many ways to approach the issues, perhaps with valid points within all of them. Solutions are not mearly black and white, which is what the parties play the populace with.

If we had more representation in the process, we'd probably have less bipartisanship and political gaming, which would actually grease the wheels of execution, rather than stifle it. Considering that every other 'democratic' country in the world has more than just two active parties, I fail to see how this situation helps the US accomplish its sizable goals for the near term and long term futures.

Let these alternative viewpoints be heard by the masses! If they are full of crap, then the market will decide by draining support for them. What happens today is basically a form of censorship and undermines progress.

RE: Badnarik & Cobb arrested at debate in STL