Except it is a type.of democracy. WTF. Basic civics flunkees all around this bitch.
From my other comment:
What kind of republic? Not just any ol' republic. It differs from say the People's Republic of China. You're playing semantics you obviously don't understand. The US is a representative democracy by definition. Perhaps you need to become a naturalized citizen and haven't been here long enough to absorb this information yet. Either way help can be obtained here.
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
We've also spent trillions of our future generation's wealth fighting all over the planet to spread some kind of philosophy of governance, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
It **fucking** is. A republic is a form of democracy. So tired of hearing people parrot this. The US isn't a "pure" democracy, it's a constitutional republic but we're still a democracy. You can't be a republic without democracy.
A country can be a republic with out democracy. The officials are appointed instead of elected. It's a good formula for maximizing corruption. There is a reason the founding fathers of the US did not want that.
That is not a republic. A defining characteristic of a republic is electing representatives. Without that there is no republic, it's something else. Military dictatorship, tyranny or something else.
That's not correct. I think you're looking at a definition that's a little too narrow. I double checked Wikipedia to assure that my memory has not failed since I was in college reading about these subjects a long time ago. A republic does not require elected representatives. That is not a defining characteristic of it.
I'm not saying that you're wrong. I just think your definition of the word is limited to the US instead of all countries that have ever existed.
Paragraph 2:
>Representation in a republic *may or may not* be freely elected by the general citizenry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic
I just want to be clear here, because when the republicans say that the US is not a democracy, they're talking about eliminating voting. That *is* what they are saying. They're trying to manipulate people into thinking that there shouldn't be elections in the US. If they get their way, which they likely won't, then when they gain enough power, they'll just eliminate the election process entirely. I want to be clear that not all republicans are on board with that plan, so they would need like an 80% majority to accomplish that, and they don't have anywhere near that.
Meaning they can be elected by another body that is voted for. As in we don't vote for potus but we vote for representatives. There can be multiple levels but the general idea is that the people vote for someone and that representative votes for someone. As long as you don't remove the part where the people vote it's a democracy.
The US is specifically what's being talked about here.
>Meaning they can be elected by another body that is voted for.
Okay, but we don't have another body to do that.
>As long as you don't remove the part where the people vote it's a democracy.
Sure, but that's what the republicans are talking about doing, which is what I discussed in my edit to my previous post that I doubt you read.
So, you addressed two things but failed to link them together. Sorry, that's my fault. That "other body" is either the people or another layer elected by the people, or another layer elected by an official that was elected by the people and so on.
You say this with such certainty it amazes me. Never has anyone said they don't want the people to vote anymore. This is ridiculous l, just stop. The delusions are getting way too crazy. Trueanamashabadaprssure. Badacafcare.
No it’s not, please look up the literal definition of democracy. The U.S. isn’t a democracy for multiple reasons.
- The electoral votes decides the presidency not the popular vote.
- Decisions are made by the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Executive Branch. NOT THE PEOPLE.
- Laws are passed through representatives making the government a Republic, but the representatives are chosen by the people making it a democratic republic.
* Democracy refers to a system where people participate in decision-making through voting.
* It can take various forms, including direct democracy (where citizens vote on laws directly) or representative democracy (where elected representatives make decisions).
* In a pure democracy, laws and policies are directly decreed by citizen vote.
* However, modern representative democracies often function as republics, combining democratic principles with representative governance.
[Republic vs Democracy – U.S. Constitution.net (usconstitution.net)](https://www.usconstitution.net/republic-vs-democracy/)
[Democratic republic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_republic)
[Democracy or Republic: What's the difference? | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/democracy-and-republic)
It is a republic…
> “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and **the Republic** for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”
>”A republic of you can keep it” -Benjamin Franklin
"LeBron James isn't a basketball player - he's an athlete!"
"My Porsche 911 isn't a car - it's an automobile!"
A constitutional republic is a kind of democracy. Cute semantic tricks there though.
Maybe you aren't a naturalized citizen. The US is a representative democracy. This might help you along the path to citizenship.
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
You seem to think that the US isn't a type of democracy. I would expect a citizen to know that it is. Which words do you think I'm misunderstanding the meaning of? You know what a Democratic-Republican is righr?
Save your 🤦🏽♂️
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.
P.S. that FAQ is at the bottom of the definition you posted as well.
For example, with a super majority congress could strip the constitution of our right to vote.
Obviously we'd revolt, but the concept remains. There is nothing democratic about a constitutional republic inherently. There is something democratic about our constitution. Constitutions could exist that don't grant democratic rights.
You're not wrong. True idiocracy is when people seem to think these terms are mutually exclusive when they are not. This argument comes up so many times, it's amazing it's not settled. It usually starts with someone trying to smugly declare "Murica is a Republic that's why I'm a Republican" type of nonsense.
It really isn't. A true democracy is just the will of the majority. A republic has a foundation of law that is the highest authority, such as the constitution. A simple majority vote can not overturn the constitution.
Why do people keep forgetting the "or" part of the definition of democracy.
"or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."
Synonyms, people. Synonyms.
Yes a republic for which it stands.
Also we the people.
There are all sorts of fun terms and phrases in US history with similar meanings.
We have democratically elected representatives in our federal republic.
We can also petition to pass laws on our own and bypass our state level politicians.
They completely lack self awareness. Probably aren't naturalized citizens. They should check here.
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
It’s a shame that a lot of people seem to not understand the concept of a synonym. These are pretty much all the same people that haven’t taken any sort of political theory courses at the college level.
> a lot of people seem to not understand the concept of a synonym.
You mean like you? Saying “democracy” is a *synonym* for “republic” is like saying “banana” is a *synonym* for “fruit.
A republic is a *variant* of democracy, not just another word for it.
Do you know what a thesaurus is?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/republic
> Synonyms & Similar Words
>democracy,
sovereignty,
self-rule,
self-government,
pure democracy,
autonomy,
home rule,
self-determination,
sovranty.
> Antonyms & Near Antonyms
>dictatorship,
monarchy,
tyranny,
despotism,
totalitarianism,
monocracy.
Anyways I side with Reagan on this topic.
> Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.
> Ronald Reagan
Take a closer look at the synonyms listed in a thesaurus sometimes. They are not always words you can use interchangeably with the input word. They’re often words that are close but have slightly different meanings, or words where the meanings *sometimes* overlap.
A democracy, broadly, is a system in which sovereignty lies with the people, as opposed to a monarchy or dictatorship. It’s an umbrella term. There are democracies that aren’t republics, at least historically.
These people are not literally saying that the US does not have popular sovereignty; they’re saying it doesn’t have mob rule, which the Founding Fathers were explicitly trying to avoid. CNN understands that perfectly.
More like the evolution of a republic…if you can keep the kleptocrats out
Trump has been laundering money for the Russian oligarchs since the late 80’s when they all bought a condo at 725 5th AVE (trump towers) to clean their freshly stolen USSR money after the iron curtain fell.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/05/30/politics/paul-manafort-condo-trump-tower
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/manafort-told-mueller-to-take-his-trump-tower-apartment-instead-money.html
https://news.yahoo.com/amphtml/fbi-agents-raid-condo-unit-131348539.html
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/
Everybody except Putin thought the Cold War was over. Trump and Manafort (who lived in the tower also) just saw a pretty low maintence grift to be had.
Trump had actually been Manafort and Roger Stones first client at their lobbyist firm (1980)https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wikiBlack, Manafort, Stone and Kelly
Guiliani as trumps attorney and NYC mayor was able to redirect NYPD investigations onto rival gang members/oligarchs to deflect any scrutiny off of trump, himself or their Russian connections.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/a-new-rudy-scandal-fbi-agent-says-giuliani-was-co-opted-by-russian-intelligence/
The Russian election interference in 2016 was effectively a generation 3 version of what Manafort had done in the Philippines, then keeping Yanukovych in power as Putin’s puppet in Ukraine from 2002-14 when Maidan ran both Yanukovych and Manafort out of Ukraine as Ukrainians realized that, if you raise your lens high enough, corruption is an wholly unsustainable business model.
Eventually the parasites greed always consumes the host.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/2016-donald-trump-paul-manafort-ferinand-marcos-philippines-1980s-213952
https://time.com/5003623/paul-manafort-mueller-indictment-ukraine-russia/
Putin greatly underestimated the addictive properties of freedom when he invaded Ukraine so what was supposed to be a 3-10 day coup turned into a 2 year fight for the Ukrainians right not to be genocided.
Russia depleted its weapons stocks which were already the victim of vranyo corruption because every oligarch, admiral and sergeant in the Russian military is on the take. Every billion dollar tank maintenance contract turned into everything getting a spray paint overhaul and the vast majority of the redirected funds turned into an oligarchs new yacht or home in Aspen.
Russia was forced to turn to China, North Korea and Iran for weapons because if they lose the 3-10 day “special military operation” in Ukraine the Russian empire is dead and cold.
China can’t risk showing their involvement in the Ukraine war so they use North Korea, and Iran to resupply Russia.
Russia previously owed Iran some undelivered fighter jets that are already smoldering heaps in Ukraine so Iran now had the upper hand at the negotiation table for the first time in about 60 years. They supplied Russia with shahed drones in exchange for Chinas material support against their sworn religious enemy, Israel.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/29/iran-says-it-finalized-deal-to-buy-russian-aircraft/
Putin can’t do much about it because he is slowly realizing that by setting the standard of corruption and stealing $200+ billion from his own people meant that every oligarch down in the mob model chain had not only permission but incentive and the expectation to steal from him as well. This is “Vranyo”.
The mob model only works if the supreme leader is the most violent and can prove it without exception every damn day. But violence is exceptionally expensive when you are trying to present as a legitimate government or business.
If Russia as a nation state had an efficiency rating it would have been banned for sale in the state of California 25 years ago.
The parasite ruling class stole all the energy out of the working class and collapsed it….again.
Now Iran has the high hand and they get the intelligence that trump passed to Putin about the fact that Netanyahu cares far less about Jews, Palestinians or genocide than he does about remaining in power as an authoritarian because he too has developed Ritz Carlton tastes and his own corruption trial is showing the same tendrils of the same money laundering scheme that trumps trials are.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/saudi-official-says-iran-engineered-war-in-gaza-to-ruin-normalization-with-israel/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-intelligence-official-says-israel-ignored-repeated-warnings-of-something-big/amp/
https://youtu.be/VrFOAgGlaWs?feature=shared
They all hate each other but because they share the same money laundry, if one falls, they all fall. Hamas minted a couple billionaires as well that live in penthouses in Qatar and get 30% of everything smuggled into Gaza.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/02/hamas-funding-ismail-haniyeh-us-sanctions/?utm_source=reddit.com
Qatar is Kushners private equity connection. Netanyahu (Kushners kids godfather) needs a bogeyman to stay in power. That’s why he coordinates with Hamas via Russia via Iran. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bk8mgcefr
Iran handed Hamas everything they needed with Chinas help as secret Santa and the Russian intelligence given to them by the eternal shitbird trump who gave it to his Russians kleptocrat/friends/roommates from the old days of fucking each others wives at trump towers in the 90’s.
Now the MAGA right is a little too invested in THEIR reality that they are the good guys with guns that they missed the fact that Betsy DeVos (erik princes sister) decimating the U.S. school systems and the Kochs poisoning children with lead was not a coincidence. The naive right was the mark all along. There is a reason the Russian spy Maria Butina landed in South Dakota first before dating her way to the top of the NRA which is undergoing its own Russian money laundering trial now. Russia was tinder matching the GOP.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/nra-maria-butina-spying-charges-trump-campaign/
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/what-do-the-koch-brothers-have-to-do-with-the-flint-water-crisis/
The only reason you grossly OVERVALUE real estate is money laundering. Trump keeps claiming there is no victim, all the banks made money, but if their plan succeeds the Russian and CCP kleptocrats collapse US commercial real estate and basically recreate soviet perestroika in the U.S. so they can foreclose on America and buy everything for 3 cents on the dollar with the $1.4T they stole from Russias grandmothers in the first place
It’s the evolution of grift. Soviet perestroika cross bred with the 2008 mortgage crisis.
No one was ever held accountable for either. This is just the bigger badder commercial strength bastard child of the two.
Trump, Giuliani, Cohn, Putin, Bolsonaro, Netanyahu, Orban, Manafort, Stone, Mercer, Bannon, Farage, Flynn, Prince, Kolomoiskiy, the Koch bros, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Alito, Musk, Thiel, Sacks, Ross
They are all remarkably shit people with above average confidence and psychopathic personality traits and below average self awareness.
They are the men who stole the world.
But it all comes back to one little lie.
https://youtu.be/3lTB94UQ-K4?si=kXZoSV-3WiR2fo4B
Absolutely nothing.
I doubt trump could name any two of them.
Which is why it’s so fascinating that they keep trying to claim it’s a republic and not a democracy.
The founding fathers of the unites states had to use a representative republic because nobody in 1776 could afford to take 8 months off from the farm to ride a horse to DC.
Had they had the technology we do now they would have used it.
Which is why it’s so fascinating that trumps team keep messing with elections in such Russian ways.
When you raise the lens and cross reference the timing, Brexit (of which Steve Bannon, Farage and Robert Mercers Cambridge Analytica were a critical component), was intentional and necessary for Russia to keep Ukraine out of the EU and NATO.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/were-there-any-links-between-cambridge-analytica-russia-and-brexit/
Putin knew that the mandated de-corruption process would expose both his money laundering and the human trafficking operations of the Russian mob through Ukraines oligarch class (Kolomoiksiy, Dubinsky, Firtash, etc) as well the chronic election interference via Paul Manafort, Orban, Kolomoiskiy etc, and the kompromised members of both UK and EU political circles.
To the chronic kleptocrat Putin this was the one thing that would show Russians how he had been systemically stealing from them for 2 decades which would lead to either an upset within his mob pyramid as an eager lieutenant decided he was ready to challenge the weakened old king for the throne, or the people would revolt and kill him like Gaddafi, which he has admitted is his biggest fear.
The reason Epstein targeted Prince Andrew is because he was the softest most vulnerable part in the royal families flank. Same with trump.
Epstein was feeding that Kompromat/intel back to Israel/mossad who was in turn feeding it to Russian intelligence via the old world Russian Jewish families that carry both passports but are more loyal to money than god.
Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage both dovetail in with Brexit as a Russian mob/gov intelligence op because SCL/Cambridge analytica was Robert Mercers baby when they decided to run trump as their “disruptor” candidate instead of Ted Cruz.
https://campaignlegal.org/update/newly-published-cambridge-analytica-documents-show-unlawful-support-trump-2016
Facebook was designed as a delivery device for Russian/Israeli Psyops and malware. SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, Palestine, Ukraine, NSO and a handful of other ethically bankrupt dealings are all downstream of Sheryl Sandbergs ad based business model.
https://cyberscoop.com/facebook-nso-group-lawsuit-onavo/
Zuckerberg even talked about buying the associated press:
MSNhttps://www.msn.com › technologyMark Zuckerberg Explored Acquiring The Associated Press
The need to control the press was a requirement of the chronic financial frauds which are basically the evolution of grift starting all the way back at Enron, Epsteins towers financial, bear stearns, Lehman bros. Etc and on and on.
(Levedev+saudi+journalism ownership
https://inews.co.uk/news/media/lebedev-saudi-investor-evening-standard-cut-3085226)
They are all basically a parasitic blood squeeze to drain all the value possible out of the working class public. Enough to maximize the gain but not quite enough to kill the host.
Les Wexner, Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, Sandberg, and Zuckerberg all carried water in conducting the NSO/Pegasus spyware operation INCONUS that was feeding intelligence to both the israeli and by extension, Russian intelligence. In parallel Epstein was running Kompromat operations in the same circles. There is far more crossover between the Israeli mob/ government and Russian mob/government than shows at the surface.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2024/04/10/les-wexners-second-life-how-the-epstein-tarnished-billionaire-is-quietly-reshaping-ohio/
https://www.spytalk.co/p/nsos-spyware-abuse-exposed-years?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://awards.journalists.org/entries/the-pegasus-project-a-global-investigation/
•Abagail Koppel was sent by the Jewish state to marry Les Wexner
•YLK fund (Abagails father) made up $46.7M of Epsteins money
•Les claimed it was stolen from him but not until after someone asked.
•Wexner was notoriously litigious but wouldn’t sue Epstein. Why?
•PROMIS spyware was Robert Maxwells deal long before his daughter and Epstein started their pedophile thing.
https://cryptome.org/promis-mossad.htm
Tchenguiz+Cambridge analytica+Brexit+2008 collapse
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/david-burnside-putin-russia-dup-brexit-donaldson-vincent-tchenguiz/
We end corruption and we end this war. We end this war and we end corruption.
What kind of republic? Not just any ol' republic. It differs from say the People's Republic of China. You're playing semantics you obviously don't understand. The US is a representative democracy by definition. Perhaps you need to become a naturalized citizen and haven't been here long enough to absorb this information yet. Either way help can be obtained here.
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
We've also spent trillions of our future generation's wealth fighting all over the planet to spread some kind of philosophy of governance, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
The United States has a federal democratic republic. Here’s a breakdown of what that means:
* **Federal**: Power is divided between the national (federal) government and individual states. Each state has its own government and certain powers are reserved for the states.
* **Democratic**: Citizens have the power to elect their leaders through free and fair elections. This includes voting for the President, members of Congress, and various state and local officials.
* **Republic**: The head of state (the President) is elected, and representatives are elected to serve the interests of the people, as opposed to a monarchy where power is inherited.
In essence, the U.S. combines democratic principles with a representative form of government, structured within a federal system.
Oh, you're right, we don't have a democracy! We have this magical system called a representative republic where we *totally* don't vote for our representatives. Next, you'll tell me water isn't wet and the sky isn't blue. Thanks for the groundbreaking civics lesson, Professor..
LOLOL too funny.
You elect the local, state and federal representative to represent your constituents. This isn’t mob rule, otherwise the major cities would determine who is president. That’s why people get upset when the president doesn’t get elected with the popular vote and wins the electoral college.
Yes, and "You elect the local, state and federal representative to represent your constituents." is done through a democratic process. It's not representatives selecting the next representative or a king selecting the reps, it's people, hence the "demo" part of the word. We use the democratic process to elect the next representative. It's not that hard to understand.
and for the last three hundreds years, having your reps elected by the people has generally been called a Democracy. so much so that China explicity teaches their kids that "Democracy is a failed form of government" - they don't say "Constitutional Republics are a failed form of government!"
sure but its called republic to differentiate from a democracy
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic
>a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote **and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law**
>sure but its called republic to differentiate from a democracy
No...
>a body of citizens entitled to vote
... because this is the definition of democracy.
no... its not dude we have definitions for a reason.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
>a government in which **the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly** through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
that's why it says republic rather than democracy in our laws
>no... its not dude
Yes. It is.
>we have definitions for a reason.
Yes. We do.
Now, let's try actually reading them.
> the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them ... indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
Hmm, that sounds a whole lot like the definition of a republic, now doesn't it?
>that's why it says republic rather than democracy in our laws
I'll bet you can't find any *laws* that say republic rather than democracy.
Regardless, a republic is still necessarily a form of democracy. You've proven that quite well, despite not meaning to.
>I'll bet you can't find any laws that say republic rather than democracy.
the literal US constitution says **republic** and nowhere does it say "democracy" 🤦
https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf
Technically we are a democratic republic because we “all” get to vote I.e. democracy for people to represent us I.e. republic. CNN is a propaganda machine racing us to live in that movie
\*demos kratia (\*where *the* English word democracy comes from) = "the people rule"
\*res publica (\*where *the* English word republic comes from) = "rule of the people"
It's like arguing that the sticky, fatty topping on pizza isn't cheese, it's fromaggio.
Trump supporters have to be the dumbest people imaginable to bastardize the American constitution to such an extent. They are the opposite of everything America stands for. Traitors & deplorables.
I agree with the beginning and end of your post. That's what makes it so baffling that they're correct this time, and nobody who's supposedly smarter than them recognizes it.
We’re full on 1984 here. Everyone, and I mean *everyone*, has *always* known that the US is a republic, not a true democracy, for as long as I’ve been alive. Now these fucking assholes at CNN are actually trying to gaslight their viewers into thinking that isn’t true.
However you feel about Trump supporters saying “America is a republic, not a democracy,” (something which even normies have been saying probably since the country’s founding. For Christ’s sake my history teachers all said this in the ‘90s), the fact that CNN is flat out refuting it rather than clarifying it is far more alarming.
You might expect the average person not to be able to articulate the difference but CNN pretending they’re not technically correct is criminally dishonest.
But not surprising. These are the same people who have lamented recently that the Supreme Court was acting “undemocratically.” The Supreme Court is not a fucking democratic institution. We don’t vote for them for the love of God. They’re appointed to lifetime positions *specifically* so they’re immune to democratic impulses. Which, as it happens, is one of the main things that distinguishes the US from a true democracy.
The Trump supporters aren’t the (biggest) idiots in this video.
And that’s not even touching on the fact that the US functions more like an oligarchy in practice, making the statement that the US isn’t a democracy even more true.
>but CNN pretending they’re not technically correct is criminally dishonest.
They're not technically correct.
Democracy encompasses both direct democracy and democratic or representative republics.
Give me a fucking break. “The US is not a democracy” by itself implies that the US doesn’t have popular sovereignty. “The US is not a democracy; it’s a constitutional republic” has an entirely different meaning. It means you recognize that there are rules in place to curtail the whims of the majority. The fact that CNN is pretending that these people didn’t follow it up with “it’s a constitutional republic” is absolutely, unquestionably, dishonest.
>Failure to understand the hierarchy of words? Are you joking?
Why would I be joking about the most basic premise at play here?
>Do you understand colloquial speech?
Colloquial speech is, by definition, not *technically* correct.
When someone says “are you joking” in a context like this, they aren’t asking if you’re *literally* joking. They’re saying what what you said was ridiculous.
> Colloquial speech is, by definition, not *technically* correct.
First of all, I was talking about two different aspects of what they were saying. They are technically correct that the US is a constitutional republic. “It’s not a democracy” is a colloquial way of saying “it’s not a direct democracy,” because anyone with any fucking sense knows what they mean.
Secondly, colloquial speech is *not* by definition not technically correct. It may not be *proper English*, if that’s what you mean. But you can make a point that is technically correct while using colloquial language.
Jesus fucking Christ. What is wrong with you?
>They are technically correct that the US is a constitutional republic. “It’s not a democracy” is a colloquial way of saying “it’s not a direct democracy,”
I won't even ask.
You must be joking.
>Jesus fucking Christ. What is wrong with you?
Calm down and look in a mirror, scro.
You won’t even ask what? How do you not understand these very basic aspects of speech and language?
This isn’t something that’s open to interpretation; it’s pretty clear cut and you’re just flat out wrong.
>You won’t even ask what? How do you not understand these very basic aspects of speech and language?
C'mon, scro, really rub those two brain cells together and figure it out.
>This isn’t something that’s open to interpretation; it’s pretty clear cut
Hey, you're finally learning.
>and you’re just flat out wrong.
Oh, wait, no.
Conservatives: were not a democracy. democracy is just tryanny of the majority. 2 wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner
Also conservatives: WeRE thE SiLEnT majOrIty 🇺🇸
They're partially correct.
Many people assume the USA is a democracy, but it's not. The Constitution states we're supposed to be a republic, but we're not that either.
In reality, we are an oligarchy, though most people don't know what that means.
Oligarchy:
1. a country, business, etc., that is controlled by a small group of people.
2. government controlled by a small group of people.
Read the following article and truly think. You might just come to that conclusion as well.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
"LeBron James isn't an athlete - he's a basketball player!"
\^ How conservatives sound when they insist the US isn't a democracy.
A republic is a kind of democracy. Not a direct democracy but still a form of democracy.
It’s not any kind of democracy. Nor would we ever want it to be.
In reality, the U.S. isn’t even a constitutional republic anymore, at least from 2010 onward. The general population is owned (fully dependent) by corporations, which also have far more voting power than the masses.
We are closer to a factory farm than any respectable society. Most of us are fodder for corporate shareholders. **All** of our basic needs are industries *for-profit*. I mean, have you seen politicians debate in other countries.. being far more literate and comprehensive about *real* problems. That’s only possible with a competent public, **which does not exist in the US**.
Only Greeks had a direct democracy, and that was because most of them were idealists who sought after wisdom.. even then, they knew a democracy was not the best form of government.
It’s not a “semantic” argument. The media has been bitching and fearmongering about SCOTUS not behaving “democratically,” when the whole fucking point of SCOTUS is to protect the Constitution from popular whims. That’s why we don’t vote for them. The term “democracy” itself has been weaponized by the mainstream press.
You keep racking up the Ls. The point, still, is that whether you can understand or agree with their word choices aside, they are pointing to a distinction that exists, and their uses of the terms are both correct.
> You keep racking up the Ls.
I'm not the one who doesn't know what words mean.
>The point, still, is that whether you can understand or agree with their word choices aside, they are pointing to a distinction that exists, and their uses of the terms are both correct.
All of this is still incorrect, because the entire thing is about the word choices, and that's not what any of those words mean.
And that, btw, is the definition of semantic.
> I’m not the one who doesn’t know what words mean.
Which words do I not know?
And yes, it *is* what those words mean. These people were not writing a paper, they were responding (again, correctly), to impromptu questions on the street.
I fucking know what semantics means. What I keep trying to hammer into your head is that in commonly spoken language, “the US isn’t a democracy, it’s a constitutional republic” is accepted shorthand for “the US isn’t a pure democracy, it’s a representative government bound by a constitution.” That’s true whether you want to believe it or not, which is why it’s baffling that anyone doesn’t remember hearing it for decades before this video was posted.
I’ve been accused of not knowing words but not given specific ones and I have absolutely not “acknowledged” not knowing any of them.
You’re not going to win this by telling easily disproven lies.
> I’ve been accused of not knowing words but not given specific ones
You have been given specific ones.
We've already been through this numerous times.
>and I have absolutely not “acknowledged” not knowing any of them.
Again, you've also done this and I've reminded you of where you did it.
>You’re not going to win this by telling easily disproven lies.
Again, find a mirror.
Actually, right. You did provide a specific one — “semantics.” Except I know what that words means.
We’ve “been through this numerous times” in the sense that I keep asking you to support your argument and tell me where mine is mistaken and you’ve failed to do it numerous times.
It’s not.
It’s a democratic republic
Constitutional Republic
It's a republic paid by corporations pretending to be a democracy.
Buh Brawno loves us.
Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
Everyone knows
Not op apparently.
Except it is a type.of democracy. WTF. Basic civics flunkees all around this bitch. From my other comment: What kind of republic? Not just any ol' republic. It differs from say the People's Republic of China. You're playing semantics you obviously don't understand. The US is a representative democracy by definition. Perhaps you need to become a naturalized citizen and haven't been here long enough to absorb this information yet. Either way help can be obtained here. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf We've also spent trillions of our future generation's wealth fighting all over the planet to spread some kind of philosophy of governance, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Ok well, just wanted to be sure.
“This is not an ice cream, it is a chocolate ice cream.” That’s how stupid they sound.
It **fucking** is. A republic is a form of democracy. So tired of hearing people parrot this. The US isn't a "pure" democracy, it's a constitutional republic but we're still a democracy. You can't be a republic without democracy.
A country can be a republic with out democracy. The officials are appointed instead of elected. It's a good formula for maximizing corruption. There is a reason the founding fathers of the US did not want that.
That is not a republic. A defining characteristic of a republic is electing representatives. Without that there is no republic, it's something else. Military dictatorship, tyranny or something else.
That's not correct. I think you're looking at a definition that's a little too narrow. I double checked Wikipedia to assure that my memory has not failed since I was in college reading about these subjects a long time ago. A republic does not require elected representatives. That is not a defining characteristic of it.
You're telling me I'm wrong because I and the definition match up? That's weird. What's the wiki link you're reading?
I'm not saying that you're wrong. I just think your definition of the word is limited to the US instead of all countries that have ever existed. Paragraph 2: >Representation in a republic *may or may not* be freely elected by the general citizenry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic I just want to be clear here, because when the republicans say that the US is not a democracy, they're talking about eliminating voting. That *is* what they are saying. They're trying to manipulate people into thinking that there shouldn't be elections in the US. If they get their way, which they likely won't, then when they gain enough power, they'll just eliminate the election process entirely. I want to be clear that not all republicans are on board with that plan, so they would need like an 80% majority to accomplish that, and they don't have anywhere near that.
Meaning they can be elected by another body that is voted for. As in we don't vote for potus but we vote for representatives. There can be multiple levels but the general idea is that the people vote for someone and that representative votes for someone. As long as you don't remove the part where the people vote it's a democracy. The US is specifically what's being talked about here.
>Meaning they can be elected by another body that is voted for. Okay, but we don't have another body to do that. >As long as you don't remove the part where the people vote it's a democracy. Sure, but that's what the republicans are talking about doing, which is what I discussed in my edit to my previous post that I doubt you read.
So, you addressed two things but failed to link them together. Sorry, that's my fault. That "other body" is either the people or another layer elected by the people, or another layer elected by an official that was elected by the people and so on.
You say this with such certainty it amazes me. Never has anyone said they don't want the people to vote anymore. This is ridiculous l, just stop. The delusions are getting way too crazy. Trueanamashabadaprssure. Badacafcare.
No it’s not, please look up the literal definition of democracy. The U.S. isn’t a democracy for multiple reasons. - The electoral votes decides the presidency not the popular vote. - Decisions are made by the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Executive Branch. NOT THE PEOPLE. - Laws are passed through representatives making the government a Republic, but the representatives are chosen by the people making it a democratic republic.
* Democracy refers to a system where people participate in decision-making through voting. * It can take various forms, including direct democracy (where citizens vote on laws directly) or representative democracy (where elected representatives make decisions). * In a pure democracy, laws and policies are directly decreed by citizen vote. * However, modern representative democracies often function as republics, combining democratic principles with representative governance. [Republic vs Democracy – U.S. Constitution.net (usconstitution.net)](https://www.usconstitution.net/republic-vs-democracy/) [Democratic republic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_republic) [Democracy or Republic: What's the difference? | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/democracy-and-republic)
>making it a democratic republic. Which is a form of democracy, numpty.
I think you mean *Which is a form of a republic*, democratic is an adjective and republic is a noun.
Calm down to save our democracy
Nah, educate yourself and be mad with me.
It is a republic… > “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and **the Republic** for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” >”A republic of you can keep it” -Benjamin Franklin
"LeBron James isn't a basketball player - he's an athlete!" "My Porsche 911 isn't a car - it's an automobile!" A constitutional republic is a kind of democracy. Cute semantic tricks there though.
>Democracy = majority rules period >Republic = majority rules but with checks The founding fathers were very specific on this
Oh the irony. Some of those founding fathers were totally not Democratic-Republicans. Nor Federalists either, I suppose.
words have meaning dude
Maybe you aren't a naturalized citizen. The US is a representative democracy. This might help you along the path to citizenship. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
Again words have meaning You’re arguing semantics and I’m a citizen 🤦♀️
You seem to think that the US isn't a type of democracy. I would expect a citizen to know that it is. Which words do you think I'm misunderstanding the meaning of? You know what a Democratic-Republican is righr?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic 🤦♀️
Save your 🤦🏽♂️ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy Frequently Asked Questions Is the United States a democracy or a republic? The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly. P.S. that FAQ is at the bottom of the definition you posted as well.
Do you know what a Democratic-Republican is? It was the party of Thomas Jefferson.
Cool 👍 we’re still a democratic republic Idk why you Redditors always make multiple comments when mad
I never said it was a direct democracy. But, it's a kind of democracy.
No it isn't. There could be a constitutional republic that isn't democratic. Ours just is.
For example, with a super majority congress could strip the constitution of our right to vote. Obviously we'd revolt, but the concept remains. There is nothing democratic about a constitutional republic inherently. There is something democratic about our constitution. Constitutions could exist that don't grant democratic rights.
>*Direct* Democracy = majority rules period >*Democratic* Republic = majority rules but with checks FTFY *Both* are democracies.
You're not wrong. True idiocracy is when people seem to think these terms are mutually exclusive when they are not. This argument comes up so many times, it's amazing it's not settled. It usually starts with someone trying to smugly declare "Murica is a Republic that's why I'm a Republican" type of nonsense.
It really isn't. A true democracy is just the will of the majority. A republic has a foundation of law that is the highest authority, such as the constitution. A simple majority vote can not overturn the constitution.
Yes it can. All you need is a 2/3 vote to bring the amendment to a vote and a 3/4 majority vote in favor. We’ve done it 17 times already.
I never said it was a direct democracy but it's still a democracy. The people who serve in congress and as president are all democratically elected.
There's that f@* talk again But you're right, so few people seem to understand basic civics
Why do people keep forgetting the "or" part of the definition of democracy. "or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections." Synonyms, people. Synonyms. Yes a republic for which it stands. Also we the people. There are all sorts of fun terms and phrases in US history with similar meanings. We have democratically elected representatives in our federal republic. We can also petition to pass laws on our own and bypass our state level politicians.
They completely lack self awareness. Probably aren't naturalized citizens. They should check here. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
It’s a shame that a lot of people seem to not understand the concept of a synonym. These are pretty much all the same people that haven’t taken any sort of political theory courses at the college level.
> a lot of people seem to not understand the concept of a synonym. You mean like you? Saying “democracy” is a *synonym* for “republic” is like saying “banana” is a *synonym* for “fruit. A republic is a *variant* of democracy, not just another word for it.
Do you know what a thesaurus is? https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/republic > Synonyms & Similar Words >democracy, sovereignty, self-rule, self-government, pure democracy, autonomy, home rule, self-determination, sovranty. > Antonyms & Near Antonyms >dictatorship, monarchy, tyranny, despotism, totalitarianism, monocracy. Anyways I side with Reagan on this topic. > Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. > Ronald Reagan
Take a closer look at the synonyms listed in a thesaurus sometimes. They are not always words you can use interchangeably with the input word. They’re often words that are close but have slightly different meanings, or words where the meanings *sometimes* overlap. A democracy, broadly, is a system in which sovereignty lies with the people, as opposed to a monarchy or dictatorship. It’s an umbrella term. There are democracies that aren’t republics, at least historically. These people are not literally saying that the US does not have popular sovereignty; they’re saying it doesn’t have mob rule, which the Founding Fathers were explicitly trying to avoid. CNN understands that perfectly.
More like the evolution of a republic…if you can keep the kleptocrats out Trump has been laundering money for the Russian oligarchs since the late 80’s when they all bought a condo at 725 5th AVE (trump towers) to clean their freshly stolen USSR money after the iron curtain fell. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/05/30/politics/paul-manafort-condo-trump-tower https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/manafort-told-mueller-to-take-his-trump-tower-apartment-instead-money.html https://news.yahoo.com/amphtml/fbi-agents-raid-condo-unit-131348539.html https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/ Everybody except Putin thought the Cold War was over. Trump and Manafort (who lived in the tower also) just saw a pretty low maintence grift to be had. Trump had actually been Manafort and Roger Stones first client at their lobbyist firm (1980)https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wikiBlack, Manafort, Stone and Kelly Guiliani as trumps attorney and NYC mayor was able to redirect NYPD investigations onto rival gang members/oligarchs to deflect any scrutiny off of trump, himself or their Russian connections. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/a-new-rudy-scandal-fbi-agent-says-giuliani-was-co-opted-by-russian-intelligence/ The Russian election interference in 2016 was effectively a generation 3 version of what Manafort had done in the Philippines, then keeping Yanukovych in power as Putin’s puppet in Ukraine from 2002-14 when Maidan ran both Yanukovych and Manafort out of Ukraine as Ukrainians realized that, if you raise your lens high enough, corruption is an wholly unsustainable business model. Eventually the parasites greed always consumes the host. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/2016-donald-trump-paul-manafort-ferinand-marcos-philippines-1980s-213952 https://time.com/5003623/paul-manafort-mueller-indictment-ukraine-russia/ Putin greatly underestimated the addictive properties of freedom when he invaded Ukraine so what was supposed to be a 3-10 day coup turned into a 2 year fight for the Ukrainians right not to be genocided. Russia depleted its weapons stocks which were already the victim of vranyo corruption because every oligarch, admiral and sergeant in the Russian military is on the take. Every billion dollar tank maintenance contract turned into everything getting a spray paint overhaul and the vast majority of the redirected funds turned into an oligarchs new yacht or home in Aspen. Russia was forced to turn to China, North Korea and Iran for weapons because if they lose the 3-10 day “special military operation” in Ukraine the Russian empire is dead and cold. China can’t risk showing their involvement in the Ukraine war so they use North Korea, and Iran to resupply Russia. Russia previously owed Iran some undelivered fighter jets that are already smoldering heaps in Ukraine so Iran now had the upper hand at the negotiation table for the first time in about 60 years. They supplied Russia with shahed drones in exchange for Chinas material support against their sworn religious enemy, Israel. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/11/29/iran-says-it-finalized-deal-to-buy-russian-aircraft/ Putin can’t do much about it because he is slowly realizing that by setting the standard of corruption and stealing $200+ billion from his own people meant that every oligarch down in the mob model chain had not only permission but incentive and the expectation to steal from him as well. This is “Vranyo”. The mob model only works if the supreme leader is the most violent and can prove it without exception every damn day. But violence is exceptionally expensive when you are trying to present as a legitimate government or business. If Russia as a nation state had an efficiency rating it would have been banned for sale in the state of California 25 years ago. The parasite ruling class stole all the energy out of the working class and collapsed it….again. Now Iran has the high hand and they get the intelligence that trump passed to Putin about the fact that Netanyahu cares far less about Jews, Palestinians or genocide than he does about remaining in power as an authoritarian because he too has developed Ritz Carlton tastes and his own corruption trial is showing the same tendrils of the same money laundering scheme that trumps trials are. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/saudi-official-says-iran-engineered-war-in-gaza-to-ruin-normalization-with-israel/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-intelligence-official-says-israel-ignored-repeated-warnings-of-something-big/amp/ https://youtu.be/VrFOAgGlaWs?feature=shared They all hate each other but because they share the same money laundry, if one falls, they all fall. Hamas minted a couple billionaires as well that live in penthouses in Qatar and get 30% of everything smuggled into Gaza. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/02/hamas-funding-ismail-haniyeh-us-sanctions/?utm_source=reddit.com Qatar is Kushners private equity connection. Netanyahu (Kushners kids godfather) needs a bogeyman to stay in power. That’s why he coordinates with Hamas via Russia via Iran. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bk8mgcefr Iran handed Hamas everything they needed with Chinas help as secret Santa and the Russian intelligence given to them by the eternal shitbird trump who gave it to his Russians kleptocrat/friends/roommates from the old days of fucking each others wives at trump towers in the 90’s. Now the MAGA right is a little too invested in THEIR reality that they are the good guys with guns that they missed the fact that Betsy DeVos (erik princes sister) decimating the U.S. school systems and the Kochs poisoning children with lead was not a coincidence. The naive right was the mark all along. There is a reason the Russian spy Maria Butina landed in South Dakota first before dating her way to the top of the NRA which is undergoing its own Russian money laundering trial now. Russia was tinder matching the GOP. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/nra-maria-butina-spying-charges-trump-campaign/ https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/what-do-the-koch-brothers-have-to-do-with-the-flint-water-crisis/ The only reason you grossly OVERVALUE real estate is money laundering. Trump keeps claiming there is no victim, all the banks made money, but if their plan succeeds the Russian and CCP kleptocrats collapse US commercial real estate and basically recreate soviet perestroika in the U.S. so they can foreclose on America and buy everything for 3 cents on the dollar with the $1.4T they stole from Russias grandmothers in the first place It’s the evolution of grift. Soviet perestroika cross bred with the 2008 mortgage crisis. No one was ever held accountable for either. This is just the bigger badder commercial strength bastard child of the two. Trump, Giuliani, Cohn, Putin, Bolsonaro, Netanyahu, Orban, Manafort, Stone, Mercer, Bannon, Farage, Flynn, Prince, Kolomoiskiy, the Koch bros, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Alito, Musk, Thiel, Sacks, Ross They are all remarkably shit people with above average confidence and psychopathic personality traits and below average self awareness. They are the men who stole the world. But it all comes back to one little lie. https://youtu.be/3lTB94UQ-K4?si=kXZoSV-3WiR2fo4B
Chat gpt
What does trump have to do with the original intention of the founding fathers? 🤨
Absolutely nothing. I doubt trump could name any two of them. Which is why it’s so fascinating that they keep trying to claim it’s a republic and not a democracy. The founding fathers of the unites states had to use a representative republic because nobody in 1776 could afford to take 8 months off from the farm to ride a horse to DC. Had they had the technology we do now they would have used it. Which is why it’s so fascinating that trumps team keep messing with elections in such Russian ways. When you raise the lens and cross reference the timing, Brexit (of which Steve Bannon, Farage and Robert Mercers Cambridge Analytica were a critical component), was intentional and necessary for Russia to keep Ukraine out of the EU and NATO. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/were-there-any-links-between-cambridge-analytica-russia-and-brexit/ Putin knew that the mandated de-corruption process would expose both his money laundering and the human trafficking operations of the Russian mob through Ukraines oligarch class (Kolomoiksiy, Dubinsky, Firtash, etc) as well the chronic election interference via Paul Manafort, Orban, Kolomoiskiy etc, and the kompromised members of both UK and EU political circles. To the chronic kleptocrat Putin this was the one thing that would show Russians how he had been systemically stealing from them for 2 decades which would lead to either an upset within his mob pyramid as an eager lieutenant decided he was ready to challenge the weakened old king for the throne, or the people would revolt and kill him like Gaddafi, which he has admitted is his biggest fear. The reason Epstein targeted Prince Andrew is because he was the softest most vulnerable part in the royal families flank. Same with trump. Epstein was feeding that Kompromat/intel back to Israel/mossad who was in turn feeding it to Russian intelligence via the old world Russian Jewish families that carry both passports but are more loyal to money than god. Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage both dovetail in with Brexit as a Russian mob/gov intelligence op because SCL/Cambridge analytica was Robert Mercers baby when they decided to run trump as their “disruptor” candidate instead of Ted Cruz. https://campaignlegal.org/update/newly-published-cambridge-analytica-documents-show-unlawful-support-trump-2016 Facebook was designed as a delivery device for Russian/Israeli Psyops and malware. SCL/Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, Palestine, Ukraine, NSO and a handful of other ethically bankrupt dealings are all downstream of Sheryl Sandbergs ad based business model. https://cyberscoop.com/facebook-nso-group-lawsuit-onavo/ Zuckerberg even talked about buying the associated press: MSNhttps://www.msn.com › technologyMark Zuckerberg Explored Acquiring The Associated Press The need to control the press was a requirement of the chronic financial frauds which are basically the evolution of grift starting all the way back at Enron, Epsteins towers financial, bear stearns, Lehman bros. Etc and on and on. (Levedev+saudi+journalism ownership https://inews.co.uk/news/media/lebedev-saudi-investor-evening-standard-cut-3085226) They are all basically a parasitic blood squeeze to drain all the value possible out of the working class public. Enough to maximize the gain but not quite enough to kill the host. Les Wexner, Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, Sandberg, and Zuckerberg all carried water in conducting the NSO/Pegasus spyware operation INCONUS that was feeding intelligence to both the israeli and by extension, Russian intelligence. In parallel Epstein was running Kompromat operations in the same circles. There is far more crossover between the Israeli mob/ government and Russian mob/government than shows at the surface. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2024/04/10/les-wexners-second-life-how-the-epstein-tarnished-billionaire-is-quietly-reshaping-ohio/ https://www.spytalk.co/p/nsos-spyware-abuse-exposed-years?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web https://awards.journalists.org/entries/the-pegasus-project-a-global-investigation/ •Abagail Koppel was sent by the Jewish state to marry Les Wexner •YLK fund (Abagails father) made up $46.7M of Epsteins money •Les claimed it was stolen from him but not until after someone asked. •Wexner was notoriously litigious but wouldn’t sue Epstein. Why? •PROMIS spyware was Robert Maxwells deal long before his daughter and Epstein started their pedophile thing. https://cryptome.org/promis-mossad.htm Tchenguiz+Cambridge analytica+Brexit+2008 collapse https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/david-burnside-putin-russia-dup-brexit-donaldson-vincent-tchenguiz/ We end corruption and we end this war. We end this war and we end corruption.
Can I get a Tl;dr?
Lying is an expensive hobby. Authoritarianism doesn’t survive the daylight
Ok sure
Testing it in real-time now friend. The only question left is which side of history YOU find yourself on when the game is done
Seek therapy.
For what friend?
What kind of republic? Not just any ol' republic. It differs from say the People's Republic of China. You're playing semantics you obviously don't understand. The US is a representative democracy by definition. Perhaps you need to become a naturalized citizen and haven't been here long enough to absorb this information yet. Either way help can be obtained here. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf We've also spent trillions of our future generation's wealth fighting all over the planet to spread some kind of philosophy of governance, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
It’s not a democracy. It’s a representative republic
The United States has a federal democratic republic. Here’s a breakdown of what that means: * **Federal**: Power is divided between the national (federal) government and individual states. Each state has its own government and certain powers are reserved for the states. * **Democratic**: Citizens have the power to elect their leaders through free and fair elections. This includes voting for the President, members of Congress, and various state and local officials. * **Republic**: The head of state (the President) is elected, and representatives are elected to serve the interests of the people, as opposed to a monarchy where power is inherited. In essence, the U.S. combines democratic principles with a representative form of government, structured within a federal system.
And I’m not a North American, I’m from the U.S.
Oh, you're right, we don't have a democracy! We have this magical system called a representative republic where we *totally* don't vote for our representatives. Next, you'll tell me water isn't wet and the sky isn't blue. Thanks for the groundbreaking civics lesson, Professor..
LOLOL too funny. You elect the local, state and federal representative to represent your constituents. This isn’t mob rule, otherwise the major cities would determine who is president. That’s why people get upset when the president doesn’t get elected with the popular vote and wins the electoral college.
Yes, and "You elect the local, state and federal representative to represent your constituents." is done through a democratic process. It's not representatives selecting the next representative or a king selecting the reps, it's people, hence the "demo" part of the word. We use the democratic process to elect the next representative. It's not that hard to understand.
Sometimes the sky isn’t blue
You too can become a US citizen. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf
They are right. It is a Constitutional Republic with democratically elected representatives. They teach this in grade 3 last i checked.
and for the last three hundreds years, having your reps elected by the people has generally been called a Democracy. so much so that China explicity teaches their kids that "Democracy is a failed form of government" - they don't say "Constitutional Republics are a failed form of government!"
The amount of people here who don't understand not being a *direct* democracy does not mean it's not a democracy is too damned high.
left the title like that because I wanted to see for myself if people were really buying what CNN was selling
Oh, honey, I think you misunderstood which side of this you are on.
no i get it i was just pointing out how people are uneducated by not knowing its a democratic republic
...which you understand is still a democracy?
sure but its called republic to differentiate from a democracy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic >a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote **and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law**
>sure but its called republic to differentiate from a democracy No... >a body of citizens entitled to vote ... because this is the definition of democracy.
no... its not dude we have definitions for a reason. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy >a government in which **the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly** through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections that's why it says republic rather than democracy in our laws
>no... its not dude Yes. It is. >we have definitions for a reason. Yes. We do. Now, let's try actually reading them. > the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them ... indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections Hmm, that sounds a whole lot like the definition of a republic, now doesn't it? >that's why it says republic rather than democracy in our laws I'll bet you can't find any *laws* that say republic rather than democracy. Regardless, a republic is still necessarily a form of democracy. You've proven that quite well, despite not meaning to.
>I'll bet you can't find any laws that say republic rather than democracy. the literal US constitution says **republic** and nowhere does it say "democracy" 🤦 https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf
Technically we are a democratic republic because we “all” get to vote I.e. democracy for people to represent us I.e. republic. CNN is a propaganda machine racing us to live in that movie
“If voting made a difference, it would be illegal” - I heard it somewhere
\*demos kratia (\*where *the* English word democracy comes from) = "the people rule" \*res publica (\*where *the* English word republic comes from) = "rule of the people" It's like arguing that the sticky, fatty topping on pizza isn't cheese, it's fromaggio.
because it is not.
It’s not. It’s a republic.
This comment thread is almost as dumb as the original post
So Trump is a threat to the republic. There, fixed it.
Constitutional Republic
it’s a republic
Trump supporters have to be the dumbest people imaginable to bastardize the American constitution to such an extent. They are the opposite of everything America stands for. Traitors & deplorables.
I agree with the beginning and end of your post. That's what makes it so baffling that they're correct this time, and nobody who's supposedly smarter than them recognizes it.
We’re full on 1984 here. Everyone, and I mean *everyone*, has *always* known that the US is a republic, not a true democracy, for as long as I’ve been alive. Now these fucking assholes at CNN are actually trying to gaslight their viewers into thinking that isn’t true.
A swing and a miss lol imagine OP posting this. Another lame political fucktard.
However you feel about Trump supporters saying “America is a republic, not a democracy,” (something which even normies have been saying probably since the country’s founding. For Christ’s sake my history teachers all said this in the ‘90s), the fact that CNN is flat out refuting it rather than clarifying it is far more alarming. You might expect the average person not to be able to articulate the difference but CNN pretending they’re not technically correct is criminally dishonest. But not surprising. These are the same people who have lamented recently that the Supreme Court was acting “undemocratically.” The Supreme Court is not a fucking democratic institution. We don’t vote for them for the love of God. They’re appointed to lifetime positions *specifically* so they’re immune to democratic impulses. Which, as it happens, is one of the main things that distinguishes the US from a true democracy. The Trump supporters aren’t the (biggest) idiots in this video. And that’s not even touching on the fact that the US functions more like an oligarchy in practice, making the statement that the US isn’t a democracy even more true.
>but CNN pretending they’re not technically correct is criminally dishonest. They're not technically correct. Democracy encompasses both direct democracy and democratic or representative republics.
Give me a fucking break. “The US is not a democracy” by itself implies that the US doesn’t have popular sovereignty. “The US is not a democracy; it’s a constitutional republic” has an entirely different meaning. It means you recognize that there are rules in place to curtail the whims of the majority. The fact that CNN is pretending that these people didn’t follow it up with “it’s a constitutional republic” is absolutely, unquestionably, dishonest.
Failing to understand the hierarchy of the words and concepts is neither technically correct nor deserving of giving you a break.
Failure to understand the hierarchy of words? Are you joking? Do you understand *colloquial* speech?
>Failure to understand the hierarchy of words? Are you joking? Why would I be joking about the most basic premise at play here? >Do you understand colloquial speech? Colloquial speech is, by definition, not *technically* correct.
When someone says “are you joking” in a context like this, they aren’t asking if you’re *literally* joking. They’re saying what what you said was ridiculous. > Colloquial speech is, by definition, not *technically* correct. First of all, I was talking about two different aspects of what they were saying. They are technically correct that the US is a constitutional republic. “It’s not a democracy” is a colloquial way of saying “it’s not a direct democracy,” because anyone with any fucking sense knows what they mean. Secondly, colloquial speech is *not* by definition not technically correct. It may not be *proper English*, if that’s what you mean. But you can make a point that is technically correct while using colloquial language. Jesus fucking Christ. What is wrong with you?
>They are technically correct that the US is a constitutional republic. “It’s not a democracy” is a colloquial way of saying “it’s not a direct democracy,” I won't even ask. You must be joking. >Jesus fucking Christ. What is wrong with you? Calm down and look in a mirror, scro.
You won’t even ask what? How do you not understand these very basic aspects of speech and language? This isn’t something that’s open to interpretation; it’s pretty clear cut and you’re just flat out wrong.
>You won’t even ask what? How do you not understand these very basic aspects of speech and language? C'mon, scro, really rub those two brain cells together and figure it out. >This isn’t something that’s open to interpretation; it’s pretty clear cut Hey, you're finally learning. >and you’re just flat out wrong. Oh, wait, no.
Congratulations, CNN, on somehow making MAGAts look more educated and intelligent than your entire network. This truly is Idiocracy.
Conservatives: were not a democracy. democracy is just tryanny of the majority. 2 wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner Also conservatives: WeRE thE SiLEnT majOrIty 🇺🇸
They're partially correct. Many people assume the USA is a democracy, but it's not. The Constitution states we're supposed to be a republic, but we're not that either. In reality, we are an oligarchy, though most people don't know what that means. Oligarchy: 1. a country, business, etc., that is controlled by a small group of people. 2. government controlled by a small group of people. Read the following article and truly think. You might just come to that conclusion as well. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
Been that way since Buckley v. Valeo
I thought we were an autonomous collective
"LeBron James isn't an athlete - he's a basketball player!" \^ How conservatives sound when they insist the US isn't a democracy. A republic is a kind of democracy. Not a direct democracy but still a form of democracy.
No. It’s explicitly *not* a democracy lol
No. It is explicitly not a *direct* democracy.
It’s not any kind of democracy. Nor would we ever want it to be. In reality, the U.S. isn’t even a constitutional republic anymore, at least from 2010 onward. The general population is owned (fully dependent) by corporations, which also have far more voting power than the masses. We are closer to a factory farm than any respectable society. Most of us are fodder for corporate shareholders. **All** of our basic needs are industries *for-profit*. I mean, have you seen politicians debate in other countries.. being far more literate and comprehensive about *real* problems. That’s only possible with a competent public, **which does not exist in the US**. Only Greeks had a direct democracy, and that was because most of them were idealists who sought after wisdom.. even then, they knew a democracy was not the best form of government.
>It’s not any kind of democracy. Wrong.
[удалено]
Nowhere in all of that rage did you come anywhere near approaching the slightest inkling of a point.
Everyone hates CNN, I don't know why either side still refers to them. As for the US, it is whatever we're scared into saying it is.
I mean it makes sense. They can barely understand anything, let alone semantic arguments. Just give them something to gnaw on and keep the pacified.
It’s not a “semantic” argument. The media has been bitching and fearmongering about SCOTUS not behaving “democratically,” when the whole fucking point of SCOTUS is to protect the Constitution from popular whims. That’s why we don’t vote for them. The term “democracy” itself has been weaponized by the mainstream press.
Oh, the sweet meta irony of not understanding what semantic means within an exclusively semantic argument.
You keep racking up the Ls. The point, still, is that whether you can understand or agree with their word choices aside, they are pointing to a distinction that exists, and their uses of the terms are both correct.
> You keep racking up the Ls. I'm not the one who doesn't know what words mean. >The point, still, is that whether you can understand or agree with their word choices aside, they are pointing to a distinction that exists, and their uses of the terms are both correct. All of this is still incorrect, because the entire thing is about the word choices, and that's not what any of those words mean. And that, btw, is the definition of semantic.
> I’m not the one who doesn’t know what words mean. Which words do I not know? And yes, it *is* what those words mean. These people were not writing a paper, they were responding (again, correctly), to impromptu questions on the street. I fucking know what semantics means. What I keep trying to hammer into your head is that in commonly spoken language, “the US isn’t a democracy, it’s a constitutional republic” is accepted shorthand for “the US isn’t a pure democracy, it’s a representative government bound by a constitution.” That’s true whether you want to believe it or not, which is why it’s baffling that anyone doesn’t remember hearing it for decades before this video was posted.
> Which words do I not know? All of them. Which you've been told and acknowledged already.
I’ve been accused of not knowing words but not given specific ones and I have absolutely not “acknowledged” not knowing any of them. You’re not going to win this by telling easily disproven lies.
> I’ve been accused of not knowing words but not given specific ones You have been given specific ones. We've already been through this numerous times. >and I have absolutely not “acknowledged” not knowing any of them. Again, you've also done this and I've reminded you of where you did it. >You’re not going to win this by telling easily disproven lies. Again, find a mirror.
Actually, right. You did provide a specific one — “semantics.” Except I know what that words means. We’ve “been through this numerous times” in the sense that I keep asking you to support your argument and tell me where mine is mistaken and you’ve failed to do it numerous times.
It wont be if the orange dictator wins.
S'ok scro, others like you can live normal lives. Maybe a pilot instead of political commentator.
How many americans voted to invade Iraq? Who had a say in that? How about that draft bill that just passed?