Hello David!

23 Sep 20 15:36, David Drummond wrote to Lee Lofaso:

I'm not sure Australia qualifies as even 9th on this list,

Did you already consider looking up the cited Wikipedia page to find out how the index that is used for the ranking is derived?


Regards,
Gerrit

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Hello Björn,

the USA has been sliding
from having once been a full democracy to now being
a very flawed democracy.

A democracy means that the people are ruling. Usually via elected proxy for
practical reasons.

Thomas Jefferson's definition was "mob rule" in which the majority
has all the say at the expense of the minority.

A country where the companies rule, albeit also via proxy, is called fascist. Yes, that's the original definition from Italy where it was invented by Mussolini. It has nothing to do with what people today usually think -- dictatorship or similar.

Mussolini was an ex-journalist and a war veteran. He first came
up with the idea of fascism in 1915. He defined it in his treatise
"Doctrine on Fascism" in 1932, long after he had taken power in
Italy. However, his term does not fully explain what fascism is,
and has become.

"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the
people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is
fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by
any other controlling private power." ~FDR

There are many other definitions, by others, that come to mind.
But one thing remains constant about every definition - fascism is
a form of capitalism.

In a country where the lawmakers compete with how many donors and how much money they can collect -- I'd say that's more like fascism than democracy...

Mussolini was limited by the guilds as to what he could, and could
not do. Trump is not limited by any political party, or faction. In
other words, there is no check to what he can do as America's own
"Il Duce".

Masha Gesssen wrote an interesting essay back in 2016, titled
"Rules for Autocracy", that is quite telling about what we have
in office today. I think she has since expanded it into a book.
Here are her six rules -

Rule #1: Believe the autocrat.
Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.
Rule #3: Institutions will not save you.
Rule #4: Be outraged.
Rule #5: Don't make compromises.
Rule #6: Remember the future.

I would like her to add a Rule #7: Pray.

--Lee

--
Nothing sucks like an Electrolux

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Hello Bj”rn,

Thomas Jefferson's definition was "mob rule" in which the majority
has all the say at the expense of the minority.

Well, Trump and his faithful followers have now openly explained how they are going to steal the upcoming election, making USA a Putin satellite, so the matter is moot.

What goes around comes around. The last time this sort of thing
came about was at the end of WWI, when Germany put Vladimir Lenin
on a train to Russia. We all know what happened next.

Czarist Russia had basically committed suicide. Russia was
in chaos when Lenin arrived from Germany. All he had to do was
pick up the pieces.

Trump has been dismantling our democratic institutions, and acting
in much the same way as the czars of Russia. It is only a matter of
time before the USA finds itself in the same position as Russia
prior to Lenin's arrival.

--Lee

--
Drive One

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Hello Gerrit,

What goes around comes around. The last time this sort of thing
came about was at the end of WWI, when Germany put Vladimir Lenin
on a train to Russia. We all know what happened next.

Can't you come up with some new conspiration theory? This one is more than a
bit dated.

Bj”rn mentioned a mad Russian first ...

--Lee

--
I won't fan the flames of hate, ~Joe Biden

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