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Originally Posted by smooth
I couldn't figure out what you guys were referring to by SATS! lol, ok, got it now.
But I don't think you are giving other nations' voting systems or voters the credit they deserve. You seem to have built up this fiction in order to prove to yourself that this is the 'freeest' nation in the world. I think that you are willfully placing blinders on yourself that would make it so that you are unable to recognize critical changes taking place.
When things don't fit people's paradigms, they are usually reinterpreted to fit within it, or thrown out. Only after enough cognative dissonance will the paradigm start to unwind and may shift. Unfortunately, it may be too late before you experience 'enough' dissonance.
I would just encourage you to try and refrain from supporting the fiction of freedom we have in this country (and that isn't to say that we don't have freedom, but that our flavor of freedom is romanticized and embedded in our cultural beliefs that may or may not match with individual experiences) by building caricatures of other nations' flavors or experiences of freedom.
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Please tell my uncle who was asked to publish Pro Marcos articles and when refused and shut down the Manila Times was incarcerated for 9 years.
Please tell that to my other uncles who were Senators and then shuffled out as Ferdinand Marcos delared martial law and disbanded the senate and congress.
When I lived in Singapore I paid very close attention to the leadership there. I paid attention to the voting process and how they work their democracy.
When I visited Iceland I sat with members of their Parliament.
If I had more time in England I would have done the same with them.
I'm not creating this picture in my head from reading newspaper clippings here in the US. My opinion is coming from interfacing directly with the people of the countries, and also my own personal experiences there.
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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
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